Brotherhood of Evil!
by quadruped
Summary: A tale of the brotherhood growing up, dealing with life, and becoming the supervillains they were meant to be.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

Summary: A tale of the brotherhood as they grow up to become the supervillains they were meant to become.

Genre: Action/Adventure. Drama

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It had been three weeks since the defeat of Apocalypse. Currently the two largest changes to the institute were Colossus joining the X-men and the inclusion of Magneto, known as Magnus to the students, as a teacher. Scott had also become a teacher, but due to the number of other adults educating and training the younger mutants he normally did not have much to do. Jean had chosen to remain at the institute for the time being, forgoing plans to go to college in the fall. The professor had chosen not to actively recruit further students at the present time, instead focusing on promoting mutant rights as a political agenda in both Washington and in Bayville.

Outside of the institute however, much had changed. S.H.I.E.L.D. Had swooped in and cleaned out Apocalypse's pyramids the same day that he had been defeated. In addition, the organization had spoken with the brotherhood- the entire brotherhood, Gambit, Pyro, and Sabretooth, who had all moved to the boarding house, in addition to Avalanche, Blob, Quicksilver, Toad, and Wanda in an attempt to recruit them all. Surprisingly, the brotherhood had turned Nick Fury down, stating that they would rather work for themselves, which was only possible thanks to another controversial pardon by the President of the United States. The public of most countries had split their opinion of the mutants, with nearly half supporting mutant rights and half denouncing mutants as monsters. Things had finally started looking up for mutants in general, and it was nearly all thanks to the X-men.

Sadly, the hope that seemed to shine so bright following the defeat of Apocalypse would not last forever...

**Chapter 1**

"Here comes Lance, looking for romance!" Fred sang from the living room of the boarding house.

"Here kitty kitty kitty!" Todd shouted out, hanging from the ceiling, safely away from the reach of Lance's long arms. Pietro snickered as he watched Lance stomp through the house, looking for his keys while simultaneously shouting at everyone to shut up.

"Don't they ever shut up?" Remy asked Wanda from his position on the couch as she walked into the room.

"They do if you gag them." She replied simply before sitting in her favorite chair, which today, happened to be in the middle of the room.

"Oh."

A rumble shook the room, throwing Fred over Remy and out the window and knocking Todd off the ceiling and straight into Wanda's lap.

"Ugh!" She pushed him to the floor and went upstairs to change.

"Thanks Lance! I owe you buddy." Todd said gratefully.

"No problem. Now shut up."

"You got it cap-i-tan." Todd mock saluted and jumped over Remy and out of the house.

"I have to admit Lance, that was smooth." Remy said. "It looked like an accident."

"It was an accident. Don't tell him that though." Lance walked off to another room to continue looking for his keys.

"So, what's up?" Remy asked Pietro.

"Not much."

"Oh. Where's Sabretooth and Pyro?"

"No idea."

"You know, with Magneto giving you guys money now, we could go out and do something instead of just sitting here like you guys always seem to be doing." Remy said hopefully. Anything to end the boredom.

"I guess. It's weird to have money. Wanna go into town and find something to do?"

"Sure."

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Wanda had gone up to her room after Todd had landed right on top of her. Peeling off her clothes, she threw them on the floor and went to find something else to put on. While rummaging through the drawers to her dresser though, she noticed herself in the mirror. Now, Wanda had seen herself in it plenty of times, but recently she hadn't really _looked_ at herself. She stopped and stared and once again got the feeling that something wasn't right. She looked the same as she always had. Running a hand through her hair she couldn't remember what prompted her to cut it.

'Probably just wanted to try something different.' Right now though her life just didn't make sense. She had been feeling this nervous paranoia constantly in the past few weeks and it was driving her crazy. It didn't help that Toad was doing his best to annoy her every day from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to sleep. Her life had stopped making sense ever since she had joined the brotherhood. Expelled from school. Having a green freak stalking her all over. Putting up with her brother, who treated her like she was made of glass for some reason. Fighting the X-men whenever the two groups met, with neither side even knowing why. Her father abruptly ending all contact with her, and then after Apocalypse just as suddenly talking and even visiting again. She didn't have any direction in her life and all structure and routine had been ripped-

CRASH! The entire house rumbled and the sounds of shouting could be heard downstairs. She shook herself out of her thoughts and finished changing.

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Three Days Later

Magneto had just finished a training session with the new recruits of the mansion. He chuckled to himself at the glares they had given him after they had completed the course. It hadn't been _too _hard. He had just left the elevator and chose to eat breakfast with the other adults.

"Hello there Charles, Logan, Henry." He grabbed a cup of coffee as the three mutants in question greeted him each in their own way. The professor returned the greeting, Hank nodded, and Logan growled before hiding behind the paper. "What is the schedule for today gentleman?"

"Actually, there isn't that anything out of the ordinary today Magnus. I suppose that we will have the day to amuse ourselves however we choose." Charles replied, before focusing back on his breakfast.

"In that case, I think I shall meet with my children and spend at least part of today with them. Hopefully they are already awake, or else I fear I might have to, shall I say, create a proper motivation for them to get out of bed." With that said, Magnus put his empty cup in the sink and walked out.

Logan chuckled to himself. "Those kids are gonna get it."

"I agree. I would not like to be in their shoes. Luckily, I don't wear any." Hank replied with a smile on his face.

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"Where is everyone?" Lance asked.

"Well, Sabretooth's still gone, probably doing whatever it is he does when he isn't working for the boss. Wanda and Pietro are out with their father or something. Pyro is watching movies right over there." Remy pointed to Pyro who was sitting three feet away from Lance.

"Ha Ha."

"And Todd and Fred are hanging out in the city somewhere."

"Oh." Lance sat down on the floor and proceeded to watch the movie with Remy and John. Suddenly the scene changed to that of a news reporter as the broadcast was switched.

"This is Adam Sharp, reporting live from downtown Bayville. I am at the old Pine Dairy building where reports indicate that mutants have begun attacking an anti-mutant demonstration. The police are en route as I speak. It appears that the citizens of Bayville are fighting back at this time. I am told that right now the area is to be evacuated, but the mutant is considered dangerous. Once again, I am at the abandoned Pine Dairy, where..."

Remy shut the television off. "I'm guessing that's where Blob and Toad are. We should go find out what's going on and help them."

Lance and John both nodded and ran out to Lance's jeep. Remy leaped out the hole in the window and jumped into an old Mustang that Magneto had bought, thanking the reputation the brotherhood had which allowed them to simply leave keys in the ignition.

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Fred had split up from Todd earlier when the two had simply decided each do their own thing. What he hadn't counted on was incurring the wrath of an anti-mutant protest. He hadn't even done anything! Simply walking by minding his own business, and then he got yelled at and mocked. Naturally he decided to show the guys that were mocking him a lesson, but he didn't realize that they had egged him on simply to provoke into fighting a rather large mob.

Now though, he was busy swinging at another thug who thought he could take on the super strong mutant. He had already knocked several protesters out of the fight, but that only angered the rest even more. Before he knew it, the more militant members of the mob had armed themselves and began taking shots. The bullets weren't piercing through his skin, but they _did _hurt. Another bullet hit him, this time near his eye. Crying out in rage, he grabbed a nearby car and threw it at a small group of them that all had guns. They scattered before it hit, but he did at least make a few people change their minds about continuing the fight. He spun around to grab another vehicle, and was completely caught off guard by the optic blast.

"That was just a warning shot. Stop fighting and leave the people alone Blob." Cyclops called out, flanked by Wolverine and Beast.

"They started it! I'm just defending myself!" Fred screamed back at them.

"You need to stop before someone gets seriously hurt." Cyclops raised his hand to his visor in preparation.

Fred smiled as he picked up the car in front of him. "Like you?"

Cyclops blasted the car out of the air, knocking it into the ground as it came towards him. Wolverine and Beast both ran off towards the other mutant. They jumped up on each side of him and as he raised his arms to catch them, Cyclops fired another blast right at the Blob's chest, taking him off guard. He staggered back and was knocked down by Wolverine and Beast.

"Stay down Blob. Once Jean is done dealing with the shooters you won't stand a chance." Wolverine stated. He was knocked nearly twenty feet in the air as Fred smacked him. Beast managed to jump out of the way of the massive arm in time.

"You X-men think that you're so tough. Let's see if you can handle the Blob!" He charged towards Beast who quickly jumped over him and kicked him in the back of his head, causing Fred to stumble and fall flat on his face.

"You're outmatched Frederick. Give up now before this goes any further!" Beast stated.

"Too late X-man." a voice called from behind both Beast and Cyclops. They spun around to see Avalanche sans uniform, Pyro, and Gambit each ready for a fight.

"We're not here to fight. We simply came to stop the Blob from destroying the city or hurting anyone." Cyclops tried to keep the peace, but as usual, it didn't seem to be going well.

Remy stepped forward. "Tell him," He pointed at Wolverine who was threatening a prone Fred, "to back off, and we'll just take him and leave." Wolverine looked up, then glared at Blob one more time before stepping back and letting him get up. Fred walked over to Lance's jeep and got in back, as all of the brotherhood members got in their vehicles and left.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Greetings everyone. Thought I would get a rather obligatory authors note out of the way right now. As you all can see, this story takes place after season four. It will focus mainly on the brotherhood, and will be both drama and action, with a bit of romance thrown in. However, the x-men will be here, simply because it is important to know what both sides are doing and what agenda each has.

Now, things of note.

Todd is creepy. Seriously. A lot of people think he is misunderstood, but the guy's a freak that hates being clean. He has an unhealthy fixation on Wanda and she doesn't like it. I've determined this because she has said a total of two nice words to him in the series. Plus when they all fought Magneto, she pushed him off of her, wanting nothing to do with him.

As I stated, Colossus has joined the X-men. After turning over a new leaf, Magneto freed his family and let him go.

Evan is currently back at the institute, although still keeps in close contact with the Morlocks. Tabitha is also back, and making the best of annoying Wolverine.

There will be no Romy. Remy is a mercenary working for Magneto who doesn't care about Rogue like that..

What is commonly called the Acolytes is going to be called the Brotherhood. I strongly feel that Magneto would not call the group that he picked his acolytes. I believe he simply called them the brotherhood, or senior members of the brotherhood. In Magneto's mind he decides who the brotherhood is, and he isn't going to give up a perfectly good name simply because he already used it once on some mutants that didn't live up completely to his hopes.

St. John Allerdyce will be referred to as John. In evo, he is named John Allerdyce. Ignoring this would be like ignoring his need for continuous flames to use his power.

As noted by the title, the Brotherhood will not be seeking, receiving, or wanting any sort of redemption. They feel that they are in the right, being ready to work for Magneto and defend mutants from humanity. Also of note, they will be doing many mean and terrible things. The X-men are the heroes, but the brotherhood are the protagonists.

Currently, Mystique has stopped association with Magneto, leaving the leadership of the brotherhood entirely to him. His second in command is a position yet to be filled. Pietro is no longer in charge of the brotherhood in any way.

Rogue has gotten over being possessed and is now doing better than ever with so many of the psyches she used to have in her mind taken out by Apocalypse.

Ages- Scott, Jean, and Lance are 18. Fred is 17. Pietro, Wanda, Kurt, and Rogue are 16. Kitty, Evan, and Todd are 15. Remy is undisclosed, but in his 20s. Pyro claims to 21. The new recruits are all either 14 or 15 barring Jamie who is 12.

I'm sure I have forgotten something or other, but can't remember it at this point. All reviews, both positive and negative are appreciative. Any constructive criticism will be thanked, and will hopefully allow me to provide a better story. If anybody notices any spelling mistakes or other problems please let me know so I can fix it. I am going to try to keep everyone in character, but it will be difficult, considering how complex the brotherhood is. The X-men are a little easier, although I find them to be fairly hard to write accurately as well. (Where did that whole Jean-Xavier thing come from in the last part of season 4? Took me by surprise.)

Whew. Stupid author's note is almost as long as the chapter. Catch you all later.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution

**Chapter 2**

The ride back to the house was quiet, each mutant falling deep into his own thoughts. Back inside the house however, they all ran straight into Magneto, who was standing by the door, an angry look on his face.

"What happened?"

John and the others looked at Fred. "Me and Todd were just going into town to hang out today. Then, for no reason, a bunch of those guys started attacking me."

"And you fought back?" Magneto questioned.

Fred saw that the others were still standing by him, rather than each fleeing into a different part of the house. "Well, yeah. They attacked me first, so I was just defending myself. Then the X-men showed up and Cyclops started blasting me."

"I doubt the accuracy of your story." Magneto relaxed. "However, I don't doubt that you were attacked. For now though, I am asking all of you to do your best to avoid confrontation with humans. If we do not provoke them, then we and they might be able to be at peace."

"What is up man? You're sounding like Xavier." Lance looked confused.

"I am **not** Xavier. **My** goal is survival, at _any_ cost. Right now, humans and mutants have the best relations that we have ever had. Conceivably, Xavier might be right, and there won't be any war at all. Your actions are not helping however." He saw Lance and John both open their mouths and cut them off. "None of you have seen a war. I have. If we can avert one, then we will. Do not think, however, that I am unprepared. If this peace doesn't last, then I, and you, will not lay down and let the humans march over us. We will fight." Magneto relaxed again. "For now though, we may not have to."

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One Week Later

"Once again, a mob in New York has attacked a young mutant earlier today. The teen is currently in the hospital in critical condition. For those just tuning in, a mutant began unleashing her powers in the middle of New York City today, which attracted the attention of several people nearby who attacked her."

The screen showed a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen collapse in the middle a crowd waiting to cross the street. Suddenly the ground around the people began to crack and split, as the girl placed her hands to the side of her head and screamed in pain. Onlookers scattered and the camera turned and began shaking as the carrier ran. Then, it turned back onto the girl who was still screaming out, as the street near her began cracking and falling down beneath itself. The driver of a car that had nearly wrecked angrily got out and ran towards her before kicking her over and raining blows onto her. Several other people nearby joined in, before the scene was ended abruptly.

"Well Charles, what do you think?" Logan asked, as he and the rest of the adults sat in a parlor and watched the news.

"We were working on Cerebro when this happened. We didn't have any warning. There was nothing we could have done." Charles Xavier seemed to have taken the attack as a personal failure, and nobody seemed to understand why.

"Charles, you just said it yourself. There was nothing we could have done. Don't blame yourself." Ororo tried to reassure him.

"I know. It's just that-" He sighed. "Maybe we haven't done enough to turn the public onto our side. If we had, then that man would have helped her, rather than attacking her."

"You can't control that man, or any of the others that were there. Someone like that would have done what he did regardless." Magnus added to the conversation.

"Where are Scott and Jean at?" asked Hank.

"They are with the younger students right now. They still feel closer to them than to us." Charles answered.

"It seems that we do not have as much support as we originally thought, when you consider the conflict last week with Blob as well." Magnus said with a subtle undercurrent of sarcasm.

"What do we have to do to for these people to stop hating us? We only _saved their lives_." Logan got up angrily. "I'm goin' for a ride."

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The next morning the residents of the institute were still trying to get over what had happened. Breakfast was quieter than usual. Logan took the morning paper from Kurt who had kindly bamfed it to him from the front gate. He looked at the front for a few moments before turning to the rest of the table.

"She didn't make it."

Kitty got up from the table abruptly, before turning and walking quickly out of the room. Rogue followed. Evan had a serious scowl on his face that matched Magneto's. The new recruits ate quickly before excusing themselves.

"Don't forget. Training session in one hour." Magneto called as they all walked out.

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"Now Magma, try to force the heat from your body outward, as strongly as you can. Okay. Iceman, try and freeze her."

Iceman shot out a stream of ice towards Magma, only to have it stop about a foot away from her body. He put more effort into it, and just before it hit her she raised her arms and shot out a stream of fire at the ice.

"Stop. The point of this exercise is for you to learn how to protect yourself Magma. By emitting a strong enough heat you should be able to melt or vaporise most projectiles before they reach you. Continue trying to do so. Now, Berserker, see if you can overload my magnetic shield." Magneto grinned as he gave the order. It was always fun to counter the abilities of a mutant with a power that operated similar to his own.

The other mutants were concentrating heavily on using their powers in defensive ways today. It wasn't hard to figure out why though. When they considered yesterday's incident they all realized that it could have been any one of them. Magneto had been especially strict today, harshly reminding them that the world was not safe yet and neither were they. To this end, the Danger Room was busy doing its best to knock, cut, burn, and zap the mutants. Eventually, after what had felt like at least three hours rather than the one and a half they had been told, the training session had ended, and the recruits all shambled out of the Danger Room to go get changed.

Magneto watched them walk out and idly moved any broken machinery to one side of the room. 'The world is not safe yet children. I _will_ teach you all how to protect yourselves from humanity. It's becoming more and more obvious that war is inevitable. I don't know how Charles sees anything else as a possibility. When we are attacked he won't be prepared and both he and his students will be either killed or worse-captured.' Magneto sighed again, before walking out of the Danger Room. Thoughts like these had been returning ever since Fred had been attacked. He tried to ignore them as best he could, attributing them to his naturally pessimistic outlook on life. He was going to do the best he could to ensure that there would be peace, but it always seemed like there was too much hate. In any event, right now, it seemed best to take a break from his constant planning and try to rebuild broken family ties. If the humans wanted a war though, then Magneto would give them one.

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"I got the bill this time." Lance grabbed said bill and pulled out his wallet, before proceeding to count through a large number of green slips and pulling out a fifty. Kitty's eyes widened.

"How did you manage to get so much money?"

Lance seemed surprised, before covering it up with a glare. "Uh, Magneto gave me quite a bit. Gave all of us quite a bit to do whatever with." He had lied. Magneto had given the Brotherhood money, but it was enough for bills and food only, with a very small allowance of sorts given to each member individually. Except Gambit, but Lance didn't know that and Gambit wasn't telling anyone so the point was moot.

Kitty wasn't fooled however. She had seen that look on his too many times to know that he was hiding something. However, it didn't really matter, and she let it go.

"So, where to now?"

"Well, there was this movie that came out... but I don't think it's the kind you would like." Lance shouldn't have mentioned it, but he really did want to see it, and he really hoped he could get her to change her taste in movies.

"What's it called?"

He mumbled something.

"What?"

He glared before answering. "I said, "Zombie Babe Slaughterhouse Two."

"Don't get mad at me just because I asked you to repeat yourself. You shouldn't mumble."

"I didn't mumble." He said sharply.

"Yes you did." She insisted.

"**No**, I didn't."

"**Yes,** you did!"

"Well, I didn't mean to. Soooooooorrrrry."

"Don't say it like that."

"Like what!"

"With that tone!"

"Well, I didn't mean to. Maybe you just misheard." He said patronizingly.

"I think I heard you perfectly fine Lance." Kitty snapped angrily.

"Look, do you want to go or not?"

"No, I don't. Because that movie is just going to be a tasteless piece of trash made for **men** and it's going to be stupid." She crossed her arms and looked away, hoping the waiter would come back with the change soon.

"Don't insult it if you haven't even seen it. Besides, why do you think they call them **chick**-flicks?" He leaned back with a smug look on his face.

"If we can't agree on what to see, then why don't we do something else?"

"Alright, like what?"

"I don't know. Can't we just hang out?"

"Where at? The mansion? No. The boarding house? No. Where else is there?"

"Well, I don't know! Why don't you try to think of something yourself?" He opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off. "Why not the park?"

He seemed to be considering it for a moment. "Okay." He said grudgingly.

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Two Weeks Later

The door slammed. Wanda jumped up from the couch, surprised that she had fallen asleep. She looked outside and saw that it was dark enough to be midnight, before grabbing the book she had been reading, and went to go upstairs.

"Hey Wanda! What's up?" Pietro's voice called out, obnoxiously loud for the time of the night.

"Nothing. Where have you been?" She stopped on the stairs and turned to see him standing at the bottom. Todd hopped into the entrance way next to him.

"Me and Todd were just out, trying to see if anybody had dropped some spare change."

"You were stealing wallets." She said, unsurprised.

"You look at it the wrong way. We were just making sure no muggers out there got paid for beating people up." Todd replied.

"That's right Todd. We're heroes."

"Whatever." Wanda tiredly crept up the stairs while Toad and her brother went to find something to eat.

Her room was nearly pitch black. Walking over to the window, (Tripping over some shoes halfway there) she pulled her curtains out of the way, and moonlight shown in. Just enough to illuminate the room. Changing into a nightgown, she crawled into bed and was nearly asleep when she heard the voice.

It was muffled, but came through the door just enough for her to hear it but not make anything out. Wanda stopped all motion, paralyzed. He was up late talking to _her_ again. She knew that she would never get any sleep as long as Lance was on the phone in his room. Something about his voice, late at night, always sent fear into her. The half made out words, the angry tone that came through every now and then, it just all really frightened her. Reminded her of someplace she had been once, or perhaps read of once. Then, suddenly the voice became angry and started to yell. She stopped moving and sat on her bed petrified, waiting for the door to open and...

'And what?' What was she waiting for? She had no idea where these thoughts came from, but they came every time he stayed up late talking to Kitty. She could only assume it was some horror book or movie that she had read or seen when she was younger and had blocked out. Ever since she had come to the brotherhood house she had had this problem. 'Really, this wouldn't be a problem at all if it weren't for that stupid Kitty staying up so late talking to him. I mean, come on! Doesn't she have to get up early or anything? Some people are trying to sleep, but she just keeps on talking to him. Chit-chatting away, never letting anybody get a moment of peace. She needs to hang up. If she doesn't then Lance will just keep on talking and then I'll be up all night too and I don't want to be and I _am going to do something about it!_' She wouldn't though. She was too scared to leave her room. Those thoughts came every night that he stayed up talking and she never carried them out. But tonight...Toad and Pietro were back home.

"TOAD!" She called out. Lance wouldn't hear her, too engrossed in his conversation, but she was sure Toad would be sneaking around, trying to look at her while she was sleeping or something equally disturbing. He was probably at the window, and she quickly looked over at it, but didn't see anything. There was the sound of someone moving downstairs. Why hadn't she heard it before? She wasn't alone in the house. It wasn't like Lance would do anything to her. Being scared was completely irrational. Summoning up every bit of courage she had, she walked to her door. Hand on the knob, ready to turn it, and then she stopped. Wanda couldn't shake the feeling that there was something positively horrible on the other side, but screwing up her courage for a moment, she twisted the knob and yanked open the door to the hallway.

Nothing was on the other side. It was simply a dark hallway, like it always had been. Lance's voice was louder now, no longer having to go through her door, and Wanda found that all the fear she had just felt was completely gone. She stalked down to his door and stopped herself from ripping it open.

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The sound of knocking threw Lance out of his "engrossing" conversation with Kitty. She was pissed at him for not wanting to hang out yesterday or today and had let him know when he had called earlier. Now though, after several horribly pathetic sounding "sorrys" he was back in her good graces.

"Just a minute Kitty." He walked up to the door, dressed in his boxers. Opening it, he found Wanda glaring at him from the other side.

"Yeah?" He asked in a way that surprised even him with its nonchalance.

"I'm trying to sleep. I can't fall asleep with you on the phone. Can you either be quiet or go downstairs?" She had asked him in a fairly nice tone (For her), which surprised him.

"Sure. Hey Kitty I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow okay? Yeah. See ya."

Wanda smiled at him, "Thanks" before she shut the door and went back to her room.

Author's note

You are all probably wondering why Wanda was scared of Lance's voice in the dark. Reason is, it reminds her of the asylum. His voice sounds a lot like the doctors there that would talk to each other at night, while they made their rounds outside of each patient's cell. Once she got in the hallway, she was no longer "living" for lack of a better word, in her memory, as she would never be in the hallway by herself at night in the asylum, so she reverted to being perfectly normal, which was angry and tired in the middle of the night in the brotherhood house.

Why didn't Lance want to spend the day with Kitty? Well, he spends a lot of days with Kitty, and just felt like hanging around at the house, or doing something with the guys.

Unwritten during this chapter is the X-men students view of things, but I figured I'd let everybody know what was going on over there.

In celebration of getting her license Rogue had to go with Kitty on a driving lesson.

Scott and Jean have gone on a nice romantic dinner together in the past two weeks, and to one concert. Otherwise they just spend their time hanging out together or with the students.

Magneto is giving the new mutants much harder training sessions.

Kitty has been spending a lot of time with Piotr lately.

Kurt spent an evening with Amanda, secretly of course. Him and Evan are back to being best friends again, prompting Magneto to ask why nobody had sent him to try to talk to Evan. Nobody had a good answer.

Rahne moved back in, to the delight of everyone, although Logan didn't admit it.

Next note. The girl that was attacked and killed by the mob is nobody. I named her Plot Device.

Finally, I know this chapter was kind of slow. In fact it was really slow, but I really feel the need to build up the introduction before I jump right into the meat of the story. There will be at least one, probably two chapters before we get into the meat and bones of the fic. We'll see how many readers last that long.

Once again, constructive criticism is always welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 3**

"Look Kitty. I like you. I think you like me. But, you never give me any space anymore. I do have a life outside of you, and you aren't letting me be my own person. I'm sorry, but it's over." She started to say something but he cut her off. "I hope that we can still be friends." The words hung in the air, feeling awkward in the tension. Then, she started crying, and ran through the front gate, towards the institute.

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"Read 'em and weep boys. Full house." Remy smiled as the others all groaned and threw their cards down.

Todd got up, quitting the game, joining Fred and John. Pietro and Remy were both evenly matched, and staring each other down. "Come on guys, this is gonna take all night. Let's do something."

"Now hold on just a minute. I want to see who wins." John responded, moving over to the couch to get more comfortable.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'm tired." Fred turned and lumbered off.

Todd was bored. Inevitably, his mind drifted to Wanda. He couldn't help it. She was just so...perfect. Their were absolutely no words to describe how he felt about her. About the things he wanted to do with her. Right now though, it was nearly one in the morning, which meant she was upstairs, in bed, asleep. Too bad she tended to lock her room door., otherwise he could sneak in, and just...watch. But, her window might be open. Todd jumped out of the still broken window in the living room and started climbing up the side of the house. Shuffling over, he made his way to Wanda's window. He tried to open it unsuccessfully. 'Damn. Locked.' Luckily, the curtains were pulled back, and he could see in. It was hard to make out the inside of the room with the glare from the moonlight. He had to hang nearly completely in front of the window to see inside, but as always, he was rewarded with a vision of paradise. She was sleeping on her right side, which was usual for her, and perfect for Todd, which meant that if she woke up she would have to turn around to look out the window, giving him plenty of warning to hide. The blankets were pulled up on her, but he could still see her bare shoulder, the strap that should have been resting on it having slid down her arm somewhere. 'Fucking beautiful.' Sometimes he wished she had longer hair, like when she first came to the house, just so that he could pretend to run his fingers through it. But, the short cut she had now looked great too. Made her look hot. Sexy. Erotic. Made him want to take her, and...well, hopefully she would reciprocate the motions. For now though, he was content to just sit, and watch, and wait.

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"Once again, police have found another mutant dead. Authorities are currently looking for the killer, and have reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been called in to help search for him."

"Two mutants fled their high school today, when one began attacking fellow students and ..."

"The mutant registration act has been proposed once again by congress, despite protests."

"The mutant known as "The Juggernaut" resurfaced today, robbing a bank in Iowa before literally stomping over the police's attempts to stop him. He has since eluded pursuers, despite the state organizing the largest manhunt in its recorded history."

Magneto sighed. There was nothing on the television other than mutants. There was a serial killer loose in Dallas hunting mutants, protests in nearly every major city in the United States, as well as in London, and violence on both sides was growing rapidly. Professor Xavier had decided that if another mutant either lost control or attacked humans, the X-men would respond and do their best to either help or stop him or her. But right now, he had just received a very unwelcome piece of information from Mastermind. Jason had routinely been only a part-time member of the Brotherhood, called in when needed, and free to do whatever he wished when he wasn't. But yesterday, in Albany, he had "overheard" a the thoughts of a man that had been commissioned to begin working on a new sentinel program. After following him home and investigating, a fact that surprised Magneto, and resulted in a considerable bonus for Mastermind, he found that all the man knew was that he had been selected to work on the rockets for a new type of sentinel. Which meant that sentinels were either being built again, or were going to be built again soon. And sentinels were built to do only one thing: hunt mutants. Peace was impossible.

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Lance was enjoying a rare moment of silence and solitude while eating breakfast. Todd had convinced Fred to go into town at the crack of dawn, and spend the day hanging out. Pietro, John, Remy, and Wanda were all still asleep. It was weird, since he didn't normally enjoy himself when he was alone, but right now, it just felt right. His thoughts drifted to Kitty. She had looked at him like he had betrayed her yesterday. It wasn't his fault though. She had just been suffocating him, always wanting him to spend time with her, no matter what he felt like doing. It wouldn't have been so bad if they actually did anything together, but most of the time when he did anything together, they just sat around. It wasn't a bad thing to do, _every now and then._ But Lance Alvers wasn't known for patience, and after the second week of doing nothing together, he was quite tired of it. Maybe if she had been willing "experiment" then he could have handled it. Did she actually think that all those times a couple said they had just been "hanging out" that they actually just hung out? Back when she had school and when the Brotherhood and X-men regularly fought, they hadn't been able to be together that much, and he was more than willing be with her then. Once, maybe twice a week, go out on a date somewhere, that he could handle. Spending every single waking moment with her, he couldn't. Not that he had ever woken up beside her anyway. No. Breaking up with her made sense. They just weren't right for each other. He needed someone a that wasn't so high maintenance, and that was more than willing to break a few rules to have fun.

He finished his cereal and was cleaning the bowl, when there was the loud slamming of a door upstairs. Then, the sound of someone stomping down the stairs alerted him that Wanda had woken up and was ready to hex someone for some trivial reason. She stormed into the kitchen.

"Where is he!?"

"Who?" He asked genuinely confused. How on earth had someone pissed her off already today?

"TOAD! Where is he!?" She thundered. A light bulb popped overhead as various dishes began floating around the room.

"He went in to town this morning with Fred. Why?"

She growled. "Because, if he thinks that he can get away with it then has another thing coming!" She stomped into the living room and turned on the television, leaving the dishes to crash to the floor.

Lance, meanwhile was faced with a difficult decision to make. Find out what Todd had done and try to calm her down, or do the smart thing and let her simmer all day while avoiding her. His curiosity got the best of him, and he finished drying his bowl then walked in and sat on the couch.

"What did he do?" he asked.

"I found slime on my window this morning." She growled venomously.

"Okay..." Lance really didn't think it was that big of a deal, but she was a bit of a neat freak.

"On the **outside** of it. Which means, that he was on the outside of my window last night, trying to get it." She said the last part of that sentence with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Whoa. Whoa. Slow down. Are you sure? He didn't, you know, accidentally slime it?" Lance knew Todd was obsessed with Wanda, but to the point of trying to...get into her room while she was asleep? That was taking it too far.

"Yes I'm sure. He was trying to get in. And, when I find him, I'm gonna-" She cut her own sentence off in burst of blue light that caused the the ceiling fan to come loose and start flying around the room.

"Take it easy." He stopped himself from yelling. "You're mad at Todd, not the room, or me. Once he gets back and you get done thrashing him I'll talk to him. Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"I'll stop it from ever happening again plenty well on my own. I don't need you to fight _my _battles." She glared at him.

Now Lance was starting to get mad himself. Here he was, trying to help her out and she was getting mad at him! "I don't fight **anyone's **battles other than my own. I'm just saying, he doesn't respond well to pain. The fact that it makes you notice him is enough for him. It probably makes him want to do it more if that's what gets your attention."

"Yeah, well, it will make me feel better. And, he _must_ be punished." She growled as her fist turned blue.

"HEY! Shut up!" They both turned to see Pietro in his boxers at the foot of the stairs. "Some of us are trying to sleep up there!" He turned to walk back up to his bed, missing the look that Wanda and Lance gave each other.

"Whoa! Ow! Oh! Please! I'm sorry!"

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Pietro gave up on going back to sleep. He had laid in bed for nearly half an hour, unable to sleep from the early morning adrenaline rush. 'Note to self. Don't piss Wanda off. Don't piss Lance off. Don't piss Lance and Wanda off at the same time. Hmmmm. I wonder what they were talking about that made them so angry to be interrupted. Something private? I need to find out.' He got up, grabbed some clothes and a towel, and went to take a shower. He took his time, but still didn't take very long. The bathroom was simply too disgusting for him to want to spend any large amount of time in there. Not to mention the fact that the air in there was probably poisonous.

Walking downstairs, he saw that the earth-shaker and red bitch were in the living room watching something on television. He checked the kitchen, but, there was no food good enough to eat. Normally that would be a problem, but today he felt fairly awake, and ready to cause trouble. Probably because he had been rudely shaken awake earlier. So, running down the street at somewhere around three hundred miles per hour, he found the perfect place to get some breakfast: The Gut Bomb. Now, he had two choices; pay, or don't pay. His first impulse was to steal what he wanted, so he went with that. Charging inside, he quickly ran around the room twice to make it seem as though a wind had come in, and then jumped over the counter, grabbed a paper bag and several sandwiches, all of which had been made in advance in anticipation of customers, and ran back outside just as the doors were beginning to shut. Then, before he could be seen or identified, he raced back home, trying to keep the bag from tearing due to the high speed.

After finishing breakfast, he found that once again he had nothing to do. He could hang out with Lance and Wanda, _or, _even better, he could _spy_ on them. He ran outside, and then very, very, carefully and slowly, crept just underneath the broken window, to listen in. Lance had the uncanny ability to tell where Pietro was whenever his feet hit the ground too hard. After five minutes of listening to some "bitch" argue with some "ho" over who was supposed to do the dishes, he gave up and went back inside. 'If the humans don't kill all of us, then reality TV will.' Standing in the doorway to the living room, he contemplated on what to spend the day doing. If Remy and Pyro were up, he could go into town and have a blast with them. He could spend the day with the two mutants watching television, but they tended to be either way too dull, or way too pissed, and he didn't like them in either mode. 'Now then, how to wake up Remy, without it actually being me that wakes him up?' He could throw a lighter at John, waking him up, and thereby waking Remy up a few minutes later, but decided that wasn't the best course of action. He could open Remy's door just a crack, letting sound get through better, and hopefully being enough to wake the Cajun up. Or, he could...He chuckled darkly at his next thought. It was simple enough, and would wake everyone up.

He quickly dashed through the living room at high speed, before jumping out the window. He could hear the cries of annoyance behind him. Jumping back through the window again, he raced out of the room and upstairs, before racing back down through the living room again and jumping out. 'Yep. Just like I thought.' He could see the house shake from his position across the street. 'That should wake everyone up.' Trying to wait a few minutes to let Lance calm down, and let Pyro and Remy both get up and start a fight over the bathroom, was tough, but probably the safest course of action.

He lasted one minute. Nearly a record.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Ah...another slow chapter I'm afraid. Next chapter is going to be the same way I'm sure, although Remy, John, and Pietro are going to cause some trouble together in town. Probably going to have some meaningless glimpses of Todd and Fred just being friends as well. But, the chapter after that is definitely going have some action.

However, Lance and Kitty have broken up! I really felt like the whole "He's not good enough, but he actually is" was overdone. The Lance Alvers I always saw in evo didn't seem to have that lack of confidence problem. But really, I never "felt" the romance between them I guess. One episode it was there, the next it was completely non-existent you know? So I figure, why not have them break up for the same reasons a normal couple does?

One second to last thing. Does anyone know what Pietro's top speed is? Somewhere over the sound barrier is all I know, but I don't know how much over. Any numbers here would be very appreciated. It doesn't matter too much right now, since he is still a teen and isn't at max speed yet, but I would like to know. Thanks!

Please let me know how you felt about this chapter. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I tried to keep everyone in character. The conversation between Lance and Wanda felt forced to me, so if anyone has some advice there I would appreciate it. Also, the early Todd part, while it seemed good to me the first few times I read it, seems a little fake now. I mean, Todd seems to have so much fun without being happy. It really makes him hard to understand. If at any time someone seems really out of character, let me know so I that I can review that part and make it work. One other thing. Does anyone know how to insert breaks in between lines? I've tried most of the symbols above the number keys with no luck, as they don't show up in the final document. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 4**

Three mutants jumped down from the fence into the small amusement park Bayville had. It was closed at this time of year, but they didn't really care. There weren't any security guards, and even if there were, they wouldn't have been able to stop them.

"So, what do you guys want to do first?" Pietro asked John and Remy, who were both looking around at the abandoned booths while he lead the way around.

"Can we do anything? Everything here is shut down." Remy asked skeptically.

"Of course. I know how to turn the power on." Pietro responded confidently.

"Well then mates, lets hit the roller coaster first. Might as well start with the biggest thing right?" John added.

The three of them walked over to the coaster which was currently shut down, covered, and had mechanical barricades stopping any possible movement of the trains. Just as Remy was about to say something, Pietro seemingly disappeared, and the coaster came alive, uncovered, and the barricades were out of the way. Remy climbed in the front car, cutting off John, who grumpily moved to the one right behind him. Pietro hit a few switches, and then jumped into the car behind John, and the coaster started up.

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Magneto strode in through the front door of the boarding house like he owned the place. "Attention! Everybody report here immediately." He stood at the entranceway, waiting for his team to greet him. Lance and Wanda both walked in, and before he could stop her, she ran up and gave him a hug with a disgusting show of emotion. "Wanda stop. Where is everyone?" She backed up next to Avalanche, who was acting like a steel rod, with a downtrodden look on her face.

"They all went into town earlier today Father."

"Hmph. Very well. Can you call them?"

"No sir. Neither Blob nor Toad carry a phone, and I know that Gambit left his here to charge." Lance answered in his leader voice, which also doubled as his Avalanche voice whenever Magneto or Mystique gave him an order.

Magneto gave him a glare, showing that he had not been talking to Avalanche, before stepping back and forcing himself to relax. "What time do you expect them to be back?"

Avalanche paused for a moment before responding. "Blob and Toad normally return by four o'clock sir. As for Pyro, Quicksilver, and Gambit, sometime this evening. Most likely after eight o'clock."

"Once any of them come home have them wait here. Once they all return, call me. I'll be at the institute." He turned, and walked out the door, using his powers to shut it behind him.

Lance let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He turned to his team member and saw her looking at the door with a strange expression on her face.

"Wanda? You okay?"

She jumped, and snapped out of whatever reverie she had been in. "Fine. Why do you care?"

"Just wondered if you were okay. Anyways, if Magneto wants all of the Brotherhood here, then he has to have a good reason. You know what it is?"

"No idea. He hardly ever talks to me anymore." She walked back into the living room, and he could hear her mumble "What did I do wrong?" before she flopped down heavily on her chair.

Lance was a little worried about her, but he was more curious about what this was all about. If Magneto wanted the whole team to meet then there probably was going to be a mission. He went upstairs to polish his uniform and make sure everything he might need was ready.

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"Hey Fred, losers at nine o'clock." Toad casually gave the finger to a group of the X-men that had been walking by.

"Let's hope they leave us alone. I'm not in a fightin' mood right now." Fred took another bite out of his huge burger.

"I hear that. I ain't in the mood for a hustle right now." Todd took another sip of his milkshake, watching as the girls all turned their heads away and purposefully ignored them. "So, what do you want to do when we finish eating?"

"I dunno. This town's too small. There's never anything to do but hang out at this stupid mall where we run into those goody-goods all the time."

"Why don't we go somewhere else then? Like the bowling alley. You ever bowl?"

"Yeah, actually. Never thought about it before. Alright. Sounds like fun." Fred finished the other half of his burger in one monstrous bite, before throwing all of his fries into his mouth at once, and gulping down the rest of his shake. "Let's go."

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Magneto strode into the living room where the Brotherhood stood, waiting for his arrival. "I'm glad to see you are all here. I'll let your absence go this time, but from now on I want to be able to contact you all at any time." He handed a bag to Avalanche, who opened it, and passed out cell phones to everyone. "War is coming. I founded this Brotherhood of Mutants to ensure that our side wins. Even now, out there somewhere is a young mutant being experimented on, and another too afraid of humans to reveal his powers, and another being beaten or used simply because of what he is." His face hardened. "We are going to ensure that **none** of these things happen anymore. From this point on, you are all on call twenty-four hours a day. If I call, you need to be suited up and ready to go within five minutes." His shoulders slumped, as he calmed down. "In addition, regular training sessions are going to be resumed. If you aren't training then I want you at this house ready for any emergency." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "Are there any questions?"

"What about shopping? If we aren't allowed to leave then how are we supposed to get food and stuff?" Pyro asked.

"A good question Pyro. I will have goods delivered to you twice a week starting tomorrow. For now, I will be leaving. Tomorrow, you will all be training again. Toad." The younger mutant snapped up and gave Magneto a nervous look. "Clean a room here. Sabretooth will be returning as well, and he will need a place to stay." Then, without hesitation, he turned around and walked away.

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"Well then, looks like the Brotherhood is back in business." Lance said, hiding the enthusiasm in his voice.

Remy chuckled. "It appears so. I'm going out. See you all in the mornin'."

"Hey wait! You can't go out. Didn't you hear what Magneto just said?" Lance shouted.

"I did. And you know what Avalanche? I don't care. He's not goin' to call tonight, so I'm having some fun before it's 'back to business'." He turned and walked out the door . The sound of the Mustang could be heard as it pulled away.

"Hmph. If Magneto found out, he'd be in big trouble." Lance muttered darkly.

"Ooooh, Avalanche. Gonna tell on him? Huh? Gonna tell? Gonna rat him out? Hmmm?" Pietro got in his face and started mocking him. The rest of the Brotherhood were watching the exchange with interest.

"I won't this time. But if Magneto asks where he is, you guys can tell him." Lance turned to Todd. "Shouldn't you start cleaning up a room?" Todd looked up at him angrily, before hopping up the stairs. Wanda waited a moment, and then followed. Lance waited for Fred, John and Pietro to walk into the living room and turn on the television before heading up as well.

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"Todd. Could you come in here for a moment?" Wanda's voice could be heard coming from her room.

'Me? She's asking me to go into her room? It's a dream come true.' He eagerly dropped the broom he had and leaped out of the room that that Agatha lady had stayed in when she had been at the house. "What do you need Wanda?" he asked, trying to hide his eagerness, as he went into her room.

She was over by the window looking out. "Come over here Todd." He did so, standing slightly behind her. She gestured to something outside. "What do you see?"

He looked for a moment, but didn't see anything unusual outside. The sky was a brilliant mixture of orange, red, and purple as the sun had almost finished setting. The trees that surrounded the back of the house were nearly black and cast long shadows towards him. A few larger bugs could be seen, as bats flew overhead. Then, he saw what she indicated, and went completely white.

Green slime dried on the outside of the window pane.

He wanted to get away, but his legs had gone numb. There was a horrible feeling in his stomach, and he thought he was going to throw up. The room had suddenly gotten very, very cold. He managed to move his head on his obscenely loudly cracking neck and looked up at her face. Once he did so he immediately wished he hadn't.

It was the most purely defined image of rage he had ever seen.

He managed to put his hands up in front of his face and hoped the numbness in his limbs lasted throughout the promised pain.

"**TOAD! **I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING, BUT I DON'T LIKE YOU, AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO EVER COME NEAR ME AGAIN!" As she roared, her hands became enveloped in blue energy and everything in her room that wasn't nailed down took flight.

Curtain rods ripped free from the wall and threw themselves at him. Books flew off their shelves and slammed into his head. CDs, countless CDs, took flight and all smashed into him again and again. The door to the room slammed open and shut wildly. Even her bed sheets and pillows attacked him. His feet suddenly turned against him and he felt the world spin around as he shot into the air and flipped over. And then, just before his face met the floor, a blue stream of energy launched itself out of her outstretched arms and knocked him out through her door and into the wall across from her room. The door slammed one last time, and it was over.

He tried to get up despite his dizziness and fell right back over. He tried again, and felt an arm reach down and grab his collar before lifting him into the air and spinning him around, knocking him right back into the wall, his feet dangling in the air. He looked right into the eyes of an angry Avalanche. 'Oh man when does it end?'

The other brotherhood members had run upstairs when they heard the commotion. They all got to the top in time to hear shrieks of pain come from Wanda's room before Todd was rocketed out and into the wall. Then, before any one of them could do anything, Lance, who had been waiting near her door stomped towards him, picked him up, and nearly threw him right back into the wall.

"What the **hell** is going on?!" Pietro cried.

"Shut it Pietro." Lance responded angrily. He looked back at Todd, who he dropped to the floor, before grabbing the collar with his other hand as well. "What do you think you're doing?" He drug Todd behind him as he shoved his way past John, Pietro, and even Fred, to the east wing of the house, away from Wanda's room. "Listen Todd. Wanda is very ill. You bothering her is making it worse. And we don't want it to get worse. Remember how it was when she first came here?" Todd nodded. "Good. Cause that's what it's gonna be like if you don't let up on this stupid crush you have! Her head is all crazy right now, and we don't need you to screw her up even more. So leave her **alone!**" He nodded again. "Good." Lance turned as to walk away, but stopped himself. His voice became much calmer as he spoke again. "Listen Todd. Mastermind changed her memories. If any of you guys paid attention you would know that either his treatment is wearing off, or he screwed it up somehow. So that means, that even if she did start to like you a little bit, she would forget it cause you **know** that when Mastermind has another go at her Magneto won't want her to be attracted to anyone. So just give it up for a while. Okay?"

Todd got up from where he was sitting on the floor, stunned. "Alright. I'll let her alone for now." His face became angry, "But _don't_ think this changes anything."

Lance spun around again and the house started shaking. Behind him John fell over and down the stairs as Pietro rolled away from where Fred was falling. "IT BETTER CHANGE SOMETHING OR ELSE YOU AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER TALK!" Todd fell backwards, partly from fear, and partly from the shaking. Lance turned back around and walked downstairs, ignoring the questioning look the others gave him.

Pietro appeared above Todd. "WHAT was that all about?" He demanded.

"Yeah Todd. What'd you do to make both of them so mad?" Fred added.

Todd shook his head before answering. "Nothin'. Just- Just bothered her one too many times I guess. I didn't do nothin' to Lance though. Don't know what his problem is."

Pietro looked skeptical, but relented. "Well, if this is the way we get along on the first day, then it sounds like we're going to all have a blast while we're stuck in this house together."

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Ahhh.. This chapter was fun to write, which makes me think I didn't do a very good job. Hopefully it all works out though. Questions? Comments? I'll answer anything confusing if people get lost. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Ah Magnus, I was hoping I would find you here." The professor rolled towards the gazebo where Magnus stood, looking out over the bay that gave the town its name. "Tell me old friend, what is bothering you?" His voice was calming, and hid is worry so well that not even Logan would have been able to detect it.

Magnus sighed before answering. "Just thinking Charles. Dreams of peace I guess. It seems far away right now."

"That is my dream as well old friend." Charles replied.

"There are times when I think that our species will not be able to survive long enough for that dream to happen Charles."

"We will survive and overcome any obstacles peacefully." Charles said meaningfully.

Magnus finally turned around, with a slight smile on his face. "Of course old friend." He walked beside Charles as they both went in, their talk changing to the everyday activities of the students.

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"Magnus, would you care to take the younger students to the beach today?" Ororo asked over her cup of coffee.

The older mutant hesitated, slowly chewing a piece of toast before answering. "Actually, I had other plans. The Brotherhood house is going to be repaired in a few days, and I was going to spend the day over there in order to make sure there were no 'problems' left by Mystique."

"What sort of problems do you mean?" Ororo asked, confused.

"The semi-automatic kind." He replied tersely. He calmed and expanded upon his story. "Avalanche and Toad both stated that when they first moved in Mystique regularly brought in illegal firearms. They didn't know where she hid them, so it is suspected that they were hidden in the walls. You can imagine the questions they would cause if a construction company were to find them."

"Oh." Ororo said, taken aback. Logan chuckled from behind his newspaper. Both Hank and Charles gave him questioning stares.

"What? Ididn't _ask_ her to obtain weaponry. She's an assassin. She probably planned on doing a few jobs while we worked together." He stopped talking and went back to his toast. The other mutants looked away, searching for a way to end the awkward moment.

"I'll take the runts 'Ro. Provided that they don't do anything to make me change my mind until then." Logan stated, his face, as always, hidden behind a newspaper.

"Why thank you Logan. I'll let them know. You do know that you need to actually go swimming right?" At his derisive grunt she continued. "Oh come on. You're allowed to have fun every now and then. Besides, it would make the students happy if you did something with them." At this, he got up and left the table, muttering something under his breath.

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"Today I want you all to work on hand to hand combat. No powers. Until I can set up a cloaking system here again there are to be no powers used at all. Xavier will find out and most likely send his X-men running." Magneto turned from the brotherhood members that were all lined up near the entrance to the huge, formerly unused warehouse. Half of it had exercise equipment, while the other half consisted of a large open area with mats on the ground for sparring. He walked into the darkness, as there were no windows and the vents on the ceiling were all closed. Light from the open door did not go very far inside. There came the sound of a heavy piece of metal snapping in place, and all the lights came on and slowly brightened up. Standing next to a large switch on the wall was Magneto. Beside him was Sabretooth. "Sabretooth and Gambit will both be your trainers for today. Remember, _no powers." _He turned from Sabretooth and walked back to the entrance. "Avalanche, come with me." Lance turned, surprised, but quickly jogged after Magneto, who was walking away.

"Wonder why he doesn't have to do this?" John muttered.

"This place brings back memories don't it?" Todd said.

"Yeah. Memories of slaving away under that slave driver Mystique." Fred said.

"Real poignant comment there Blob. Slaving away under a slave driver. How do you come up with it?" Pietro taunted.

"Why I oughtta-" He turned towards Pietro, who tried to run, but found himself tripping over a staff that had been placed in between his legs.

"Cool it you two. No powers remember? If you guys blow it then the boss won't be happy." Gambit ordered, pulling his staff back.

"Yeah! And we get to train you runts today. So be ready to work up a sweat." Sabretooth added, as he walked past Todd and shut the door to the building.

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Pietro ducked, slowly. Sabretooth's hand slowly swung just over where his head was. Pietro swung his fist up into Sabretooth's stomach, slowly. The larger mutant didn't even seem to register that he had been hit, and simply grabbed Pietro by his shoulders, before throwing him to the dusty mat.

He coughed a few times as he got up. "Man, this is pointless! Even though I'm moving slow, I still am fast. I'm not learning anything. Why aren't we allowed to use our powers?"

Gambit looked over from near a prone Wanda. "Simple. This place hasn't been used in a while. I'm guessing the old cloaking thing Magneto put on it still works fine, but back at all the bases he was always upgrading the things. The one on this place probably isn't advanced enough for the newer versions of Cerebro that the professor has now." Wanda had gotten up behind him as he spoke, and just as he finished, she jumped at him. Without even looking at her Gambit spun out of the way, and sent her back to the mat with a well placed smack from his staff.

"Hang on kid. You're always fast? I thought you could turn it on and off." Sabretooth questioned.

"Well, I can slow it down somewhat, but even right now all of you are going so slow it's ridiculous. I have to be careful not to swing too fast, so I normally wait a few moments before I slowly extend my arms and legs to hit you. Then, since I'm barely swinging, you get hit and you don't even feel it. That's why this is pointless. I can't fight at slow speed. It's completely different from super speed fighting, and in any real fight, I'm not going to be going slow just to give the other guy a chance." Pietro said, somewhat bitterly.

"Makes sense. Well then, go hit the weights until I tell you you can stop." Sabretooth said. Pietro started walking to the other half of the warehouse. "Hey Toad! Come over here. You're up next!" Todd let the handles on one of the machines drop, as he hopped over to Sabretooth.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Avalanche, put this on." Magneto handed Lance a bag containing several layers of pants and shirts, as well as multiple socks in addition to heavy boots and gloves. "There's a room down the hall on your left that you can change in." Lance nodded and started walking that way. "Put it all on. We're going to Antarctica." Lance stiffened for a moment, before nodding, and turned back to change.

Magneto meanwhile, was busy on a computer. The two of them were in one of his hidden bases. This one in particular was in Louisiana, near New Orleans. It was here that he had taken Remy when the mutant had first signed on. Currently he was looking at a map on the screen, which showed various red dots on an otherwise white background. Each dot represented a recoverable piece of Asteroid M. He would need Avalanche to help break most of the pieces free from the ice.

Lance walked back out of the room, heavily covered and visibly sweating. "Alright. Anything else?"

Magneto downloaded the map into a small device he had grabbed when the two of them arrived. "One last thing." He turned and used his powers to move a large cylindrical piece of machinery nearly three feet tall and one foot in diameter towards him. "Put this device in the sphere with you. Once we get there I will use it to hide our powers from Xavier."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Todd was not faring well against Sabretooth. 'Duck. Dodge left! Back! Duck. Dodge right. Duck! And, attack!' His foot swung out towards Sabretooth, who simply grabbed it. The feral mutant then turned and swung Todd over his head and down onto the mat for around the twelfth time that day.

"I keep telling you, you can't be so obvious! Anyone could have seen that kick coming! You should have feinted an attack to keep me off guard. If you spend the whole fight trying to avoid my hits, then you can't hit me back! Now, we're going to keep doing this until you knock me down! Get up!" He didn't wait for Todd to move, instead launching himself at the boy, who jumped back and out of the way just before Sabretooth would have landed on him.

"Tsk Tsk Wanda. When was the last time you did anything physical?" Gambit asked. Wanda was on a bench, curling. So far, at every single machine, she had proven one thing. She was laughably weak. It made sense, considering she spent most of her life hugging her knees in an asylum, but it was still pathetic. Gambit had grown frustrated with her inability to even hurt him in a fight, and her inability to lift much of anything, so he had made her start lifting dead weights. Right now, she was struggling with fifteen pounds.

"Shut up." Wanda was thoroughly embarrassed at her physical weakness. She had known that she wasn't particularly strong, especially in relation to the males at the brotherhood house. It was just that she had never known just how _weak_ she was. It made sense to her now though. The last time she had moved anything heavy was when she pushed her favorite chair up against the wall to see the television better, and that had been difficult. She had just assumed it was a heavy chair, even after seeing Toad easily pull it around the room using his tongue. None of the guys had said anything to her yet, but she knew that they were all laughing at her on the inside. They would love to see just how little she could lift. To know that she had a weakness.

It didn't help matters any to see Fred lifting several hundred pounds in each hand several dozen times. He had simply been told to lift, since it was physically impossible for both Gambit and Sabretooth to take him down in a hand to hand fight, even working together. In addition, Pietro was doing very well, which just made her look worse. Somehow her narcissistic brother had been incredibly strong, easily benching nearly four hundred pounds. Plus, earlier, she had seen even Toad lifting slightly over two hundred pounds. All together, it made her feel horribly weak. Her pride had been shattered, and right now it was all she could do to lash out angrily rather than cry. 'It's no wonder that Father is embarrassed by me. I'm so weak I couldn't possibly be of any use to him. I should just leave, so that he doesn't have me dragging the rest of his Brotherhood down. I'm nothing more than dead weight.'

Remy had a natural gift for being able to tell how other people felt, and right now he could easily see that the Scarlet Witch felt bad. It wasn't hard to figure out why, seeing as how she refused to look at anybody else while she angrily lifted the weights she had in her hand over and over, despite the fact that her arms were shaking and obviously in pain.

"Wanda. Wanda look at me." She didn't move "Wanda, listen. I know you feel bad right now since you can't lift as much as anybody else here. But you shouldn't feel like that. First off, everybody here but you, me, and Pyro has super strength. There's no way we can hope to compete with that. Secondly, you've never had training before. By the end of the week, you'll be much stronger."

She stopped lifting, and dropped the weights to the floor. "My brother and Toad don't have any special strength. I'm just weak."

"That's where you're wrong chere. Pietro runs around at a couple hundred miles per hour. He has to be super strong for his legs and arms and everything else to go that fast. Same thing for Toad. His legs are his main power, but you don't have strong legs without developing a strong upper body too. That's just how it works. And, you might be weak now, but soon you'll get much stronger. Neither me or Pyro or Avalanche have super strength, so it's not like you're the only one that's left behind."

"Really?" She asked in a small voice.

"Really. You've done enough curls today. Why don't you go do some sit-ups." She nodded and walked over to a mat. "Pyro! You and me." John looked over from where he had been jump roping, or rather, trying to jump rope. He nodded, and followed Remy to the mats.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The ice cracked open all around. Smaller pieces launched themselves into the air, showering Magneto and Avalanche. All around them, the ground shook, as Avalanche focused his powers. The ice groaned in protest, as it resisted moving from where it had rested for thousands of years. Avalanche stomped his foot down, sending a crack outward that traveled to the massive piece of rock that had made up a part of Asteroid M. As the crack reached it, there was an incredible blasting sound, and thousands of pieces of ice were thrown into the air around it. The world shook even harder than before, as Lance gritted his teeth together, trying to crack the rock free. He reached down, deep below ground, and forced the seismic pressure there to propel itself upwards at the station. The energy gathered speed and power as Avalanche focused his own power to generate seismic energy into it, before finally reaching the surface and shattering the ice, causing the asteroid to collapse downward several feet. Avalanche fell to his knees, exhausted.

"Excellent work. Excellent." Magneto said, from where he stood floating several feet behind Avalanche. He had been standing, but actually grew quite afraid for a moment that the ice under him would simply open up and cause him to fall into some deep crevice. Recruiting Avalanche had been a very smart decision. The youth was just as powerful as he had hoped, and continued to grow even more powerful as he got older.

Magneto flew over to what had been a hospital and several dwellings. It was all shattered now, thanks to the Summers brothers, but with time he would be able to repair it. He focused his powers on the large amount of metal in the rock, and forced it to acquire a positive charge, matching the positive charge he was creating just below it. Slowly, the massive section of asteroid lifted itself nearly forty feet into the air, before Magneto flew up and landed on it. He then focused on forcing it to fly several miles towards the rest of the pieces that he and Avalanche had gathered. Setting it down near the reactor, which was what it used to connect to when the base was still intact, he flew back to Avalanche, who had gotten up and started walking in order to warm himself.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

'Tis another chapter. Only thing really noteworthy here is the mention of super strength. By all accounts, both Pietro and Todd both are stronger than a normal human would be, so they are here as well. As far as I recall, comic Sabretooth doesn't have super strength, but in his first fight in evo he was throwing cars at Wolverine like it was no big deal, so presumably he has it here.

Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 6**

It had been a long day for everyone. Sabretooth and Gambit had made everyone train for eight hours, with only one forty-five minute break for lunch. Now, everyone was back at the house, laying down and moaning about their bruises and aching muscles. Everyone except Sabretooth of course, who had gone up to his room once he got home. Even Gambit was sore, as Pyro had demonstrated that his flamethrower was deadly even without his powers. There was a bunch of food out on the counter in the kitchen and in the refrigerator, but no one knew who had dropped it off. Magneto and Avalanche were still gone as well, and nobody knew when they would get back.

"Who's turn is it to make dinner?" Todd moaned out from his position on the couch.

"Good question." Fred added. "I'm hungry."

Remy lay in the middle of the floor, trying to keep from putting any pressure on his burns. "So go make dinner Blob. We're all hungry."

"Well, we wouldn't be if you n Sabretooth hadn't driven us like mules today!" John exclaimed far too loudly, especially considering he was laying on the floor right next to Remy.

"It's for your own good. Magneto wants you all trained, so we're going to work till you're all in perfect condition."

"Hey! Let's not get off subject here. Who's turn is it to cook?" Pietro said.

"I think that it's Remy's turn." Wanda said, her muscles shooting jolting waves of pain at her whenever she tried to move.

"No it isn't. I made it last time." Remy protested.

"No you didn't, I made it last time." Fred argued. "We had lasagna remember?"

"What? That was three weeks ago." Remy said.

"It was just a few days ago! Quit trying to shove your shift onto me!" Fred shouted.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute! I remember now." John spoke up, "Wanda made sandwiches last night. I made burgers the night before that. And Remy bought pizza the time before that."

"Oh yeah."

"Well, before that, I made tacos, and before that we had lasagna, so that makes it Todd's turn!" Pietro exclaimed.

Everybody turned to Todd, who looked nervously at them. "What? I didn't know it was my turn. Really guys, I had no idea." Gambit managed to flick a glowing card at Todd, which landed in his lap. Todd yelped, then hopped up and went into the kitchen, before the card blew part of the stuffing out of the couch.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Ah Magnus. How did it go today?" Charles asked, as he saw his friend come in the front door. Magnus looked very tired, and was dragging his feet as he walked in.

"Well, enough I suppose, although spending the whole day with those children was an exercise in patience." He continued walking, before he remembered the story he made up that morning. "It turns out, that there were no weapons after all. Mystique must have either moved them, or the boys were lying." He walked into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Dinner had been finished an hour ago and he had missed it. Now though, he was famished, not having used his powers that extensively for quite some time.

"Yes. I tried calling earlier today, but no one answered. Did you go somewhere?" Charles had followed him into the kitchen, completely ignoring the fact that Magneto did not want to try and think of a more advanced cover story.

"Well, we did go out for lunch. I thought it would be good if I spent some time with them all. Um, otherwise it was probably too loud to hear the phone ring." He idly picked through the fridge. There was some casserole that looked like it had been dinner. He got it out and heated it up.

"Of course. I forget that Mr. Alvers always had his music turned up far too loudly when he stayed here. You don't look so well Magnus. You should get some rest." He turned and wheeled away.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Today will be a harder session than most. I don't want you all growing complacent. Humanity is extremely dangerous and you all need to be prepared." That was all Magneto said before he began the session earlier. Now the new recruits were in a desperate battle against simulations of two sentinels. As in plural. As in over twice as difficult as the battle the senior team had nearly lost a year ago.

Iceman dove out of the way of a massive claw arm that slammed into the ground where he had been. Spinning around quickly, he let out a blast of cold that froze the arm to the floor. He looked back, just in time to the Sentinel focus its other arm at him, and open fire.

"Aagh." His chest was covered in paint, and he limped away to the doors as the images of the city died away and the Sentinels stopped moving. His teammates had all fallen earlier.

Magneto landed beside him and the rest of the students. "It seems obvious that you are all unprepared for this kind of event. What will you all do when we are attacked? You must all learn how to stop Sentinels now, or humanity will win the war."

Tabitha spoke up. "What war! The professor says that relations between humans and mutants are at an all time high. There won't be a war."

Magneto glared at her before answering, causing her to step back. "Were at an all time high. Not anymore. Humans are already chasing mutants out of their homes and attacking them in the streets. Mark my words, there **will **be a war, and you must all be ready to fight." None of the recruits said anything, but he looked extremely frightening when he acted like this. Much less like a teacher, and more like, well Magneto. Magneto as in the violent leader of terrorists, rather than as their instructor in a training session.

"Everybody stretch yourselves and get ready. Finish this last obstacle course and you're done for the day. Except you Magma." He walked over to the wall and programmed an obstacle course into the computer, and the room quickly set it up. They all took off, doing their best to make it around the room.

"What do you want me for?" Amara asked frightfully. Magneto might have been her teacher, but that didn't mean she wasn't terrified of him. He led her out of the danger room and to the elevator, heedless to the other students' shouts of alarm. The obstacle course wasn't _that_ hard.

"We are going to work on your powers." He didn't say anything else, and they stood in silence as the elevator took them up to the ground floor. He led her out back, past the pool, ignoring the looks the older students gave him. Colossus in particular had a cold glare on his face. Once they were a sufficient distance from the mansion he stopped.

"Charles said that you are able to perform geokinesis, like Avalanche."

"Oh. I'm not very good at it. Not nearly as good as Lance is. I just make the ground around me shake a little." She said nervously. She had seen Avalanche control the ground like a third arm when he had stayed at the mansion, and she was nowhere nearly as good at it as he was.

"That's fine. I just want you to show me. You shouldn't ignore one of your powers simply because you aren't very good at it." He said this in a tone that made it seem like she had acted foolishly.

"Alright. Here goes." She shut her eyes and stretched her arms out in front of her. Her teeth gritted together, as she focused on the seismic energy in the ground. After finding it, she began trying to make that energy move the ground. The slight waves that moved were far too weak to have any effect and she focused on adding seismic energy of her own into it. She channeled the power into her right foot, then picked it up and stomped down hard on the ground. The effect was noticeable, as the earth around her shook lightly. Sweat started running down her face, and she stomped again, trying to force the ground to really shake, instead of simply vibrating. Her arms started shaking as she tried to use them to direct the energy into one smaller location, as Avalanche had mentioned to her once. Gathering up as much as she could, she released it all out at once as she stomped again simultaneously. A ripple of earth came out from her once, and then she fell over and all the motion stopped.

Her head had a terrible ache in it, and her vision swam as she tried to focus it. She saw a hand in front of her, and she grabbed it and let Magneto pull her to her feet. She swayed a few times, before regaining her balance.

"How do you feel?" Magneto asked.

"My head feels terrible. This is why I never do this. It hurts too much." She complained.

"I believe that with more work, you will be able to master this power. Avalanche has the same problem. His powers give him headaches as well. I think, that if you are willing, he could teach you how to control your power. How do you feel about that?" He asked, as he led her back to the mansion, keeping a hand on her shoulder to stop her from falling.

"I- I guess that would be alright. If the professor's okay with it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The Brotherhood had finished training again, and resumed their positions in the living room, although today Lance had been with them.

"Not so easy to fight me without your flamethrowers is it John?" Remy smirked. His burns from yesterday still hurt, but he hadn't gotten any new ones today.

"Just you wait till we can use our powers again, and then we'll see who wins." John said, his voice muffled since it hurt too much to move his head out of the pillow it rested on.

"Why don't you try to take me on Remy, and we'll see how good you are then." Fred said smugly from his chair.

"I don't think I'll have too much trouble. Dodging you is like taking a step to the side once every minute or so." Remy said seriously, hiding his grin.

The door swung open and Magneto walked in swiftly. He saw his team in the living room and hid his grimace at the way they were acting. Everybody was paying attention to him, although none had moved more than the minimum required amount to look at him.

"Father!" Wanda started to get up, but quickly sank right back down as she decided it would hurt too much to get up and hug him.

"Calm down Wanda. Avalanche, tomorrow instead of training I want you to come to the institute. Wear your uniform. As for the rest of you, get up and quit acting like children. I need you all in peak condition for the first mission the united brotherhood will go on." He turned and walked out the door, leaving the Brotherhood there, dumbfounded by his arbitrary entrances and exits.

Nobody saw the jealous look Pietro gave to Lance.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

AN: Again, nothing to really say here. I changed Magma's earth moving powers from the comics I'm sure, since I don't know much about her at all. Only other thing worth mentioning is Evo Sentinels. They rock. Period.

Also, shout out to L'ange - Sans - Ailes. I really liked your story "X-Factor beginnings."

Read it as it came out, but for some reason was unable to review at the time...which is one reason I got a new profile. Anyway, everybody should read it. Will you write a sequel? Please?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 7**

Three months ago

Agent Frank Pearson grumbled as he made his way back to his room. His friend, Matt Baker, was walking along with him, as they shared a room.

"I swear that that exercise is impossible. We've been trying to do it for months now and there hasn't been any improvement at all." Frank said.

"It seems like that. Turns out though, that since we started, we actually now have a three percent increase in chance of capturing the mutants." Matt said. He always had been a numbers person, and was smarter than most.

"Isn't that the margin of error?" Frank asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

"I tell you, today I thought we had it. When we all opened fire on the Blob, somebody managed to hit his eye, and he went down." Frank stated, as he went in his room.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Everybody has. First time isn't it? That he went down like that I mean."

"Yup. The techs say that the new guy, Floyd made the shot."

"That's impressive. Too bad that while you guys were trying to take him down, the rest of us were getting trampled." Matt said bitterly. His back was already showing large bruises, from when he had been slammed into the wall. He should have been in the medical ward, but lied about his injuries.

"How did that happen?" Frank asked curiously. Scans had shown that all the members of the Brotherhood seemed to have been asleep.

"No idea. Somehow Gambit saw us going in. Next thing we knew things were blowing up all around us, and everybody woke up. We charged in through the door, which was presumably when you guys got attacked by the Blob at the front door. Then, Avalanche must have woken up because the ground rocked, and we all went flying. I woke up and the session was over, with the words "Total Failure" popping up on my H.U.D."

"Yeah. They said we took too long and that Magneto arrived at the scene. Never even got up the stairs." Frank lay down on his bed, shutting his eyes as he tried to calm himself from the frustration of another failure.

"That's the most ridiculous thing about it all. If we take more than like three minutes from the first time those damn muties find out we're there he shows up and we lose."

"I'd like to actually face off against him one time, just to show the officers that we can take him." Frank quipped.

"We'd lose. He's considered to be the most dangerous mutant in the world. Completely unstoppable by normal humans. Even if we actually could, they'd never let us win in the simulators." Matt told him.

"So, are we ever actually going to do this? Or is it just a huge waste of time and money?" Frank asked. "Tell me the truth. What you've heard." Matt always had the most up to date information about things neither he nor the other members of his squad were supposed to know about. You had to ask him specifically about the right subject for him to bring it up though.

"Chances are no. There's been talk of suspending all work on the operations right now. Something about not being able to come up with a proper firearm made completely of plastic or something. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you." Matt said quietly. Rooms were private, with no cameras or listening devices in any of them, so he was free to talk. Frank looked up, suddenly very interested.

"You got it man. Tell me."

" I mean it. It's top secret. I'm not supposed to know about it."

"You're not supposed to know about most things that you do. Trust me, I can keep a secret." He rubbed his hands together, a habit of his whenever he got excited.

"Alright." Matt sighed. "There is a good possibility that if these mutants do need to be captured, they're just going to send in sentinels."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Present Time

"'Mara slow down!" Tabitha called out. She, Rahne, and Kurt's girlfriend, Amanda, had all gone shopping together today.

"Sorry. You're all slow today." Amara mentioned, as she waited for the rest of the group to catch up to her.

"Yeah, well we have training with **"MAGNETO"** instead of Lance," Tabitha mocked her instructor.

"Tell me girl, what's it like? Anything _interesting_ happen?" Rahne asked slightly sarcastically.

"No!" Amara said, a little too quickly.

"Oh come on! Now you have to tell us!" Tabby said.

"Yeah Amara. None of us will tell." Amanda added.

"I was just joking." Rahne said flatly. Amanda and Tabitha both tuned and gave her "The Look." "Tell us!" she exclaimed with much artificial cheer.

"Well, I don't know. He's really nice and all. I don't know why the others don't like him." By others, Amara meant the senior X-men. "But, he's really been helping me with my powers a lot. He taught me how to store extra energy, so that I can use it in an emergency."

"Mm-hmm. Go on..." Tabitha said, draping an arm over her friends shoulder. They had all stopped walking now.

"Nothing really. I do kind of..." She mumbled off too quietly to be heard.

"Like him?" Her three friends finished for her simultaneously, all wearing large smiles.

They all stared at her, until as one, they fell over together, unconscious.

"What?" was all Amara managed to get out before she suddenly turned and walked out of the mall, ignoring her friends' plight.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Achoo!" Magnus sneezed again. He had been ever since he had had pepper flung all over his face earlier that day, thanks to Ray and Roberto. He lost control of his powers every time he did, letting out an electromagnetic pulse which shut down all the power in the mansion. The backup generators had worked for a while, until he had sneezed again and shut those down as well. So currently the mansion had no power, and he was sitting out by the cliff waiting for the sneezes to pass.

"Feeling better yet?" Ororo had snuck up behind him.

"Not yet, unfortunately." He said, doing his best to look miserable. He hadn't expected to have to keep up his charade this long.

"Well, due to the power being out, we all thought a barbecue would be in order for tonight. And, since you caused the power outage, you get to be the one to go buy the groceries." She smiled after she said so.

"Won't that just result in Bayville losing power as well?" He asked.

"I have confidence in your ability to restrain your abilities. Even if you were to knock out the power, once you came back here then they could get it back up. Now no more excuses. Here's your shopping list." She handed it to him, and then walked back to the house.

Magneto smiled. He had just been given the perfect excuse to leave the institute and speak with the Brotherhood.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The door rolled open on it's own, and Magneto was revealed behind it. The Brotherhood, who were all exercising or sparring, stopped what they were doing and walked over to him. Magneto pointed to Avalanche. "Come with me. The rest of you, continue as you were." He let the door slam shut as he and Avalanche walked out.

"Okay, what gives! Why does father always take Avalanche with him without telling us anything!" Pietro exclaimed. Behind him Todd and Fred nodded.

Remy, John, and Sabretooth all turned towards the younger members of the Brotherhood.

"You should know better than to question the boss bub." Sabretooth growled and took a step towards Pietro.

"Calm down Sabes." Remy said.

"Now listen. Whatever it is, it's none of your business." John said menacingly. He could look extremely frightening when he wanted to.

"But why? Why Lance instead of me? I'm more loyal. I'm his son! I can do anything that Shakedown can do! Faster and better too!" Pietro retorted.

"Except knock down buildings." Remy replied. "Listen up Pietro. Whatever it is, you can bet that we'll all find out when we're meant to. Magneto is taking Lance cause he needs him right now. You need to learn that it's nothing personal, and not just about you."

Pietro glared at him, and looked like he was ready to start a fight.

"Calm down Pietro. Father would never forget about us. He just needs Lance right now." Wanda said, putting a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. He tore it off angrily.

"You-" He shook his head. "You're just a big phony Wanda. You don't even know who you are anymore. You used to-" Pietro was cut off by Sabretooth.

"THAT'S **ENOUGH!** Pietro, shut it and get back to lifting!" He turned to the rest of the younger brotherhood members. "What are you doin' standin' around fer? Get to work!" He growled angrily and they all went back to their various workouts.

"We better tell the boss about this." John said.

"Don't worry too much. Mastermind is gonna be in town soon, and he can give Wanda a booster shot." Sabretooth said, before he stalked over to Pietro and started yelling at him some more.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"YOU BROUGHT HER HERE!" Magneto roared. The metal in the house all began taking flight.

"Where else would you have preferred?" Mastermind asked, currently bent over Amara, who was sitting in a chair, her eyes glazed over as she stared vacantly.

"Anywhere not here! Wolverine will track her you idiot! This could ruin everything!" Magneto turned to Lance. "If any X-men come by, do **not** let them in. Call the others for help and make sure that they do not find or take Magma!" He pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button. As soon as it finished ringing he yelled into the phone. "Sabretooth! Get to the house immediately. I don't care how you do it just get here now!"

"Mastermind, do what you can, and do it quickly. For now just make her loyal to Avalanche. That should be enough. You have three minutes. After that the chances that Cerebro will be active are too great and you could be detected. Nobody else in the house is allowed to know about her. Avalanche, when Sabretooth gets here tell him to cover the trail of Mastermind and Magma. Remember, we need her to rebuild Asteroid M. Do not let her be taken from us!" He turned and started out the door.

"Wait? Where are you going?" Avalanche asked.

"To buy groceries." Magneto said bitterly. As he walked out the door he raised his hand and every electrical device in the house shut off.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sabretooth arrived less than a minute later. After Avalanche explained what was going on, he immediately started following the trail of the two mutants, keeping close to the ground.

Mastermind suddenly looked up from Magma. "That should be enough for now. She already knew you and liked you enough that I didn't have to do too much. She'll listen to whatever you say, so take her up to your room and wait for her to wake up. Then you two can do...whatever." He waved his hand around.

"And while I'm up there, what are you going to do be doing?" Avalanche asked suspiciously.

"I'll be cleaning the parlor. It's the only room left in this house for anybody to stay in. If any X-men come on to the premises I'll let you know."

Lance picked up the unconscious Amara and carried her up to his room. Now, he had to wait and hope Sabretooth was able to do a good enough job that the X-men wouldn't find out what happened. He didn't look forward to facing their entire team with just Mastermind by his side.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

** AN:** Well, this is the beginning of the end of the beginning. Yeah... Basically, the actions that started in this chapter will lead up to what will become the main part of this fic. Everything prior to this, and probably for the next chapter or so, is essentially what I would consider the "introduction." It's kind of hard to advance the plot, keep it interesting, and slow enough not to seem rushed, so I feel that the quality of my work suffered a little. I'm just not skilled enough to do all three at once. Hopefully once I get into the meat and bones of the fic things will be neater, tidier, etc. .


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution

**Chapter 8**

Logan parked the van and went into the mall. The girls had all been gone much longer than they had said they would be and nobody had been able to call, since Magneto had killed all the phones in the mansion. As he entered, a familiar scent came to him- Sabretooth's. He quickly pushed several other people out of the way and ran inside. Once there, he ran up to a front desk and asked to see security.

"What seems to be the problem sir?" A kind looking guard asked.

"I'm looking for these four girls. They came here earlier today and never called. They're late." He held up four photos, one each of Rahne, Amanda, Amara, and Tabitha.

"Can I see some sort of identification sir?" The guard, who Logan now realized was a boss of some sort, asked. After seeing his I.D. He nodded.

"Well, Mr. Logan, if you could wait here for a moment, I'll be right back." He turned and walked through a door that read "Staff Only."

After a few minutes, Amanda, Tabitha, and Rahne all came out with him, nodding their affirmation that Logan was indeed someone they knew.

"They all fainted earlier today. We had our doctor look at them since the phones are all dead and the power's out, and he said they were fine. Nobody saw the other girl that you showed me. Is something wrong?" The superintendent asked, much more serious than before.

"Maybe. Where's Amara?" He asked.

"No idea. She wasn't here when we woke up, and they made us lay down until you showed up." Tabitha responded.

"What's wrong Logan?" Rahne asked.

"I really need to get home. My parents will kill me if they find out I was here guys. Sorry about Amara. I hope you find her!" Amanda said, as she quickly left.

"I'm gonna need to see your security tapes bub." Logan said to the guard. He was about to object, until Logan showed him a badge of some sort.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Charles, I need to speak with you." Logan said, then looked at Magneto. "Privately." They both walked into his study, away from the other adults.

"Logan, what seems to be the problem?" Professor Xavier asked, worried.

"Amara is missing. The other girls all passed out at the mall _at the same time_ and when they woke up they were in some sort of clinic the mall staff had and Amara was nowhere to be found. I can't sniff her out either. But, I did find Sabretooth's." Logan said darkly.

The professor stopped. It was eerie, to see him suddenly stop all movement like that. After a moment, he looked up. "We mustn't act too rashly. I'm sure there is an explanation. Did any of the guards see anything?" He asked.

"No. Nobody saw anything at all. I checked the security tapes, but they got blanked by Magneto. And I'm willing to bet that Cerebro was off line at the time as well." Logan muttered, making it obvious that he suspected that Magneto was responsible.

"Yes. It's been off most of today." Charles said. "Now Logan I'm certain Magnus had nothing to do with this. His powers couldn't be controlled. I'll call everyone together so we can discuss this and determine what part, if any, he has in this." He place his fingers on his temples and telepathically requested that the instructors come to his study immediately.

Magneto walked in right away. Less that thirty seconds after him Scott walked in, and a moment after him Jean walked in.

"What is it Professor?" Scott asked as soon as he walked in.

"Hopefully nothing. We'll wait until Hank and Ororo arrive before I say anything."

While they were waiting Scott seemed outwardly calm, but inside his mind was racing. He tried to figure out what the meeting was about. Had someone been hurt? A new recruit perhaps? Were the Brotherhood up to no good? Had the Juggernaut been found? Was Apocalypse back? If he was back, then what was he up to and how should the X-men respond? Probably best to go after Mesmero first and question him. Then, -

'_Scott calm down_.' Jean's mind reached out to his.

'_Sorry Jean. Do you know what this is about?_' He asked.

'_I'm sure the professor will tell us.'_ She said, doing her best to calm him down. It was annoying sometimes, going out with someone who was so paranoid. That paranoia however, was probably what made him such a great leader.

After another minute Hank and Ororo walked in.

"What's wrong Charles?" Ororo asked quickly.

Charles looked at everybody as he spoke from behind his desk. "Amara has gone missing. She, Tabitha and Rahne went to the mall earlier today. Somehow, they, along with Amanda, fainted together. When they woke up Amara was missing. Nobody saw her leave."

"I'll assemble a team and we'll go look for her Professor." Scott said as soon as the last word had left Xavier's lips. He turned to go, but Charles stopped him.

"Wait. First we have some questions to answer. Magnus?" He asked pointedly to his long time friend.

Magnus looked around for a moment before answering, bewildered. "What?"

"Logan found Sabretooth's scent at the mall.-" Scott started at this, but was cut off. "-Do you know anything about this?"

"He came back to Bayville a few days ago. I told him to buy some new clothes instead of those disgusting rags he wore. He probably went to the mall." Magnus responded after a moment's hesitation. It looked like a perfectly honest response.

"In addition, the security tapes at the mall were blanked later. Nobody saw what happened, and there are no tapes to check to see what happened."

"Your accusing me of orchestrating this? I have done nothing wrong. I thought we had put all of this behind us."

"You can't put those kinds of things behind you that quickly." Logan said from his position next to the wall.

"I'll admit the evidence looks incriminating, but I have had nothing to do with this. I told Ororo that I could accidentally shut out the power to the city." He looked at Ororo.

"You did. That seems like a perfect excuse. Too perfect." She responded icily.

"I don't remember you sneezing at all once you came back." Scott said. Jean placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him calm.

"I had a terrible fit in town. I probably blacked out the entire city. Afterwards they went away." Magnus looked around. "Charles you have to believe me. I did nothing wrong. I'll call Sabretooth right now and have him help Logan track her."

"Very well." Charles said sternly. His tone lightened to one of a friend. "I believe you Magnus. We were wrong to suspect you. Scott, inform the others. Jean, Hank, I would like your help with Cerebro. We need to get it running again as soon as possible. Logan, if you could continue searching, and let us know anything that you find."

"I'll find Sabretooth and tell him to help you. I'll tell the Brotherhood to look as well." He turned and left with the others.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sabretooth was out "searching" for the missing new recruit. Logan had given him the scent when he had met the Canadian at the mall, and then they both had separated, going their own ways. Magneto, Mastermind, and Avalanche were all upstairs, waiting for Amara to awake.

"You're sure everything will be fine?" Magneto asked, for the third time.

"Yes. Yes I am sure. I am still sure. My opinion has not changed since the last time you asked me." Jason said.

Magneto's eyes narrowed. "Do not mock me Mastermind." Jason took a step back.

After Magneto calmed down, Lance ventured a question. "What did you do exactly? You said, 'Loyal to me.' What does that mean?"

"It was a wise decision to have you spend time with her before I did my work. She had already created a weak bond with you. I did not have much time, so my work was rather crude, but I simply strengthened that bond, and made her feel that she should do whatever you ask. She should act like herself otherwise. I didn't have any time to do any work on her memories at all. I didn't give her a reason to follow you either. If she starts asking 'Why' then there could be problems."

"And I don't want you to use your powers again until we all make the move to one of my bases. We can't let Charles know you are here." Magneto said. "For now, I want as few people to know she is here as possible. She'll stay in your room Avalanche. When the others go to train you'll stay at the house with her and Mastermind. Otherwise, you are to keep her up there and hidden. If anybody asks, you're sick." He turned back to Mastermind. "It's up to you and Sabretooth to ensure that the other brotherhood members leave him alone. When they all return from training tell them that she is missing. Otherwise, they are to know nothing. I don't want one of them to see her and call Charles. We must handle things very carefully for the next few days."

As he walked out the door of the boarding house the rest of the Brotherhood arrived.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The door to Cerebro opened, and Xavier rolled out. The residents of the institute were all waiting for him, other than Logan who was still out searching.

"Any luck Charles?" Ororo asked.

"I'm afraid not. Has Logan called?"

"Not yet." Scott said.

"Where's Magnus?"

"Upstairs I believe. He's taking this much harder than I would have thought." Hank said.

"You should all get some sleep. Tomorrow we're all going to look for her." The students parted ranks as he rolled past them, heading for the elevator.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"You don't look very well Magnus." Charles said. Magnus was currently in a chair in the library, holding _The Leviathan _absently in front of him.

He didn't answer. Charles waited, and was about to give up when he finally did respond. "I keep thinking that I failed her Charles. I was her teacher. I was supposed to teach her how to defend herself. I failed."

"There was nothing you could have done. I've seen the training sessions you put the students through. Things like this are the kinds of things that can't be prevented."

"Then where is she Charles? Why hasn't she used her powers? The only thing that comes to me is that she must have run away. She used her powers to overheat the other girls and make them faint, and then ran away."

"Amara would not have done that. She was-**is** happy here." Charles responded. He was certain that she had been abducted. However, Magnus' theory seemed to fit very well. It left him slightly shaken.

"She was. Until I became her teacher. She was terrified of me. I put too much pressure on her. She ran away to get away from **me**. I can't do this Charles. I can't teach these children, and I can't possibly hope to make up my absence to my own children."

"Is that what this is about? Magnus, while I do not condone some of the things you have done in your life, you did do what you thought was right. Your children will understand that in time, and they will come around. Look at how far Wanda has come along. I used to think that she would never forgive you, and now she is quite happy to spend time with you."

Magnus sighed heavily. "Nothing is working for me Charles. I'm announcing my resignation right now. I'll leave the mansion within the week."

"Magnus no. Don't do this. We are simply going through trying time right now. We will find Amara and everything will be fine."

"No Charles it won't be. Even if we do find her, she won't suddenly accept me. None of the students trust me, and I can't blame them. I have done too many things to become a good teacher overnight. Right now I just want to retire and spend time with my children. I'll bring up the younger brotherhood members. Give them a chance to have a good life. It's too late for me, but not for them. Not even too late for Lance." He got up and began walking towards the stairs. "I'm sorry Charles."

Professor Xavier couldn't say anything as he watched his oldest friend walk away.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**AN: **Nothing to say, except I welcome constructive criticism and any other reviews. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution

**Chapter 9**

Magnus was actually somewhat depressed. Charles didn't know it of course, but he had been acting for the most part. Although, when the subject of his children came up, particularly Wanda, he couldn't help but remember how much she hated him. Without Mastermind he wouldn't even be able to talk to her without fighting. And Pietro, well he simply didn't understand his son. Still, personal comforts and happiness would have to be sacrificed for the greater good. He would make that sacrifice so that no one else had to.

He found himself in front of his door. He must have been standing there for a while since the elevator was running, which meant Charles was coming up to get some rest as well. Before the elevator could open, he quickly went inside and shut his door.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Hey where's Lance at?" Pietro asked curiously. The Brotherhood had been home for several hours now and he had only just noticed that the rock shaker wasn't around.

"He's in his room." Jason said. He had been watching the walls in his room slowly crumble, but eventually decided that it was slightly less interesting than spending time with the others, so now he sat in the living room.

"He is?" Wanda said, wrinkling her nose. Whenever Lance spent any time in his room his room music blared throughout the house.

"He has been all day. He is very sick. Nobody except Sabretooth and myself are allowed to go in." Jason answered.

"What's wrong with him?" Todd asked from his position on the floor. He had been reading some comic.

"We don't know yet. Right now it's Magneto's orders that absolutely nobody else spend any time with him. We can't let you all get sick."

"So that's why Magneto's been taking him to the mansion. He's been feeling crook." John concluded.

Everybody stared at John for a minute, figuring out what he had said.

"Exactly. He won't be training with you all for several days. Remember to leave him alone." Jason said.

"Yeah, we got it already. Jeez. It's not like we're stupid or anything." Fred said from his own chair, before taking a bite out of a sandwich.

Conversation died for an acceptable amount of time as everybody watched television.

"I'm going upstairs." Wanda said suddenly. She headed for the stairs.

There was a brief race between Pietro and Todd for her chair. Very brief, since Pietro got it before Todd had finished getting up.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

There was a knock on the door.

"Shhh! Shhh! Be quiet." Lance whispered to Amara. The two of them had been talking ever since she had woken up several hours ago. His attempts to answer her questions resulted in increasingly complex lies that he had been desperately trying to keep track of. "Get under the bed. Hurry."

She stopped talking and quickly laid on the floor and slid under his bed, pushing old clothes, shoes, and boxes out of her way. He quickly got on top of it and pulled the covers over himself. It didn't cross his mind that his weight would force the bed down and begin crushing her.

"Who is it?" He called, attempting to sound weak and still be loud enough to be heard.

"It's Wanda. Feeling okay?" It was extremely out of the ordinary for Wanda to ask something like that, but Lance had little choice but to go with it right then.

"Not exactly." He said rather clearly. His voice unintentionally cracked partway through 'exactly', which luckily enough made him sound really sick. He leaned over the side of the bed. "You still thirsty?" He whispered to Amara.

She couldn't speak, since her lungs were being crushed, but she managed to nod and hoped it would be obvious enough to him that she was getting flattened.

"Well, I hope you get better soon." Wanda uttered.

"Hey Wanda, could you have Sabretooth or Mastermind bring me some water?" Lance called.

Her reply took a moment, "Sure."

He paused for few seconds. "Thanks." That was easily one of the most surreal moments he had had in the house. Nobody ever thanked Wanda. That was simply because Wanda never did anything that you would thank her for, and he had no idea why she was suddenly interested in his welfare.

He rolled off of the bed and Amara scooted out quickly.

"You big oaf! You were crushing me!"

"Shh. You have to be quiet remember? Nobody can know you are here." He had told her a fantastic story earlier about sentinels attacking everywhere, which was how she came to be at the brotherhood house. However, Magneto was also staying there and he would not be happy to find an X-man taking shelter in Lance's room. It had gone over pretty well, although he suspected that was mostly due to Mastermind's conditioning.

"I remember." She pouted. "And the professor will come and get me when we can stay at the mansion again?" She asked.

"Yeah. So you're probably going to have to stay here for a few days. Everybody is gone during the day, so we can go downstairs then."

"Lance, who is going to get the bed?" Amara had put this question off for a while now, but it was late enough for it to finally be asked.

Lance's bed was twin sized, and his floor was wooden, which made it a very interesting question to answer.

"We'll... share it." He said slowly, hoping that she would simply go with it. There was no way he was sleeping on the floor. If she had a problem with it then she'd be the one to sleep on the floor. Of course, if she didn't, then he would spend the night next to a rather attractive young Brazilian. Not that he would do anything to her. Although, if she were to initiate anything, then he certainly wouldn't stop-

'LANCE GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! She's fourteen! _I am not a pervert. I am not a pervert. I am not a pervert_.' He began to mentally chant. 'I am a good person. I won't do anything. Even if this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that every guy dreams about. I won't do anything.'

Unfortunately his body seemed to disagree with that thought.

She paused for a moment, her own thoughts conflicting with the impulses Mastermind had given her. "Okay." She said simply.

Lance narrowed his eyes. 'Couldn't make it easy could you?' At least he had two pillows.

After a moment the door opened and Mastermind brought in a pitcher and a cup. He produced a second cup from under his ever present coat.

"Don't expect this kind of treatment any more. From now on get what you need before the others get back from training." He said irately. He walked back out.

"Back home nobody would talk to me that way." Amara said conceitedly.

Lance just rolled his eyes.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Colossus were currently in the Blackbird on their way to Kansas, where the Juggernaut had been recently spotted. Charles Xavier's half brother wasn't thought to have gone far, and he sent the X-men to stop and hopefully capture him.

"Alright, everything looks good. We'll be there in less than an hour." Scott said, from his position in the pilot's seat. Logan had allowed him to fly the Blackbird, and was sitting in the co-pilot seat next to him.

The jet had just passed Bayville when it was hit.

It happened without warning. One moment everything was fine. The next there was a hard jolt, and the jet begin spinning and plummeting to the ground. There was a chorus of shouts before everyone quieted enough for words to be made out.

"What happened!" Storm cried. Behind her Kurt could be heard saying a prayer in German and Kitty was holding Piotr in an extremely tight hug.

"We've been hit! No idea what it was by. Nothing came in on the radar. I'm trying to level off and regain control." Scott replied. He sounded much calmer than most people would have been in his situation. Logan moved to help him.

"Stay calm. Everything is going to be alright," said Logan. The jet continued its spinning nosedive.

The combined efforts of Scott and Logan were enough regain control of the Blackbird and slowly descend.. They quickly landed in an unused field.

The X-men breathed a collective sigh of relief. Kitty released Piotr with an awkward "Thanks."

"Is everyone alright?" Jean asked.

"Yeah. A little shook up though." Rogue said. There was a chorus of affirmative answers. Everyone took a moment to breathe and calm down.

And then, with a horrid screech of metal on metal, the ceiling ripped open.

A sentinel looked in and threw the piece that it had ripped off behind it. While the X-men struggled to get out of their seat belts, it fired at them, and quickly encased Scott, Storm, and Kitty in the green resin it had been known to use. Kitty phased out as soon as she had been enveloped, while the other X-men managed to get out of their seats and prepared to fight back.

"Out of the plane! It's too cramped in here; we're sitting ducks!" Logan yelled, ushering everyone out through a hole he quickly cut into the wall.

As soon as they had gotten out, the sentinel fired several more bursts of resin. One managed to hit near Wolverine and trap his leg. He began cutting himself free as Colossus ran up to the robot and began pounding at it's feet. Kitty ran up to the sentinel and bounded off of Piotr's shoulder, flipping up to near the metal behemoth's waist, before phasing through it. The sentinel started to fall backwards, but managed to catch itself on its hands. Colossus took the opportunity to jump onto its chest.

The chest guns fired and he went flying through the air before landing in a smoking heap ten yards away. His body reverted to his normal form as he passed out.

Kurt teleported Kitty back into the jet in order to free the others. Jean was protecting Wolverine, who still wasn't free, and Rogue, who once again cursed her mostly useless powers.

Amazingly the sentinel used the rocket on its back to return to a standing position. It's legs weren't moving, but it managed to at least remain upright. It unleashed a barrage of plasma at Jean.

"I can't hold it much longer." She cried, as Wolverine finally managed to finish cutting his leg free. Just as her shield was about to break, a massive optic blast slammed into the right shoulder of the sentinel, knocking the arm completely off and ending the shots that Jean was struggling to withstand.

A bolt of lightning flew from Storm's hand and into the robot's head, which caused all the lights on it to go out and it stopped moving.

"Is that it?" Kurt asked Kitty, from their position on top of the Blackbird.

"I think so. Looks like Storm shorted it out." Kitty responded.

Quite suddenly the lights all came back on, and a stream of plasma shot of its chest and towards Jean.

She erected another shield, but it quickly shattered and she was only saved when Wolverine grabbed her and threw her to the side. He was hit hard by the shots, and fell over, unconscious. The strain of holding the shield caused her to pass out.

"Everybody stay back!" Cyclops shouted, as he shot another high powered beam at the machine, this time taking its head completely off. The remaining body fell over but remained active. Several more shots to the chest caused it to finally shut down.

"Is everyone alright?" Storm asked. Without even waiting for an answer she went to check on Logan, as Kitty ran to Piotr and Scott to Jean. Kurt bamfed over to near Rogue.

"Crazy ja?" He asked.

"Ah had just absorbed Colossus' power too!" Rogue complained.

"You may get a chance to use it. Look!" Cyclops pointed into the sky, where two black dots began approaching steadily.

Storm flew into the Blackbird and called Charles. "Charles, this is Storm. This is an emergency. We're just outside of Bayville in an unused field. We've been attacked by a sentinel and it looks like there are two more coming our way. We need backup and medical attention immediately."

"Affirmative Storm. Do your best to hold them off." He paused for a moment. "Magnus is on his way."

She flew back outside and began using her powers to create a fog around the X-men and the jet. It was probably too late to hide from the machines, but the fog might at least give them trouble tracking the mutants. Cyclops put Logan over his shoulder as Kurt grabbed Jean and a metal Rogue picked up Piotr.

"Get under the jet." Cyclops ordered. Everyone ran under, before he blasted out one of the rear landing gear, causing the Blackbird to tilt and smash a wing into the ground, forming a sort of lean-to.

Storm continued to generate fog, making it impossible to see more than five feet in any direction. After a minute or two the sounds of two large thuds on the other side of the jet made everyone stop moving and do their best to remain quiet. There was the sound of slow heavy footsteps moving around, heading towards the front of the jet. Scott motioned everyone to remain where they were.

As the X-men watched, a bright yellow beam illuminated the fog above them, moving from left to right. It moved down and was cut off by the Blackbird. At the front of the aircraft, a light suddenly appeared, moving slowly further and further past the edge of the front in time to the sounds of the footsteps.

Cyclops carefully lead the way towards the rear of the Blackbird when Kurt grabbed his shoulder and pointed back at the front. The light was gone. They all stopped moving, and continued to wait. As they waited, they found that the footsteps had stopped. Seconds ticked by.

"Where are they?" mouthed Kitty.

Scott simply shrugged. He had no idea.

A sound above them made them all look up. Somewhere far above them came the sound of harshly twisting metal. As quickly as it started, it stopped. Then, without warning, the twisted remains of a sentinel appeared right above them falling fast.

Cyclops ripped his visor off and released a giant optic blast. The body of the sentinel was immersed in red and bits and pieces rapidly disappeared before there was nothing left to see. He shut his eyes and carefully placed his visor back on.

"Let's move! They know where we are now." Storm ordered.

They all began running towards the back of the jet before Magneto's voice was heard coming from somewhere in the fog.

"Stop! Come out. I've destroyed the sentinels."

Cyclops nodded to Storm, and she quickly began dispersing the heavy fog.

After a few moments it was gone and Magneto was shown to be hovering above them. Beside him were eight metal spheres.

"The authorities will be arriving soon, and there may be more sentinels coming. Get in!" He commanded.

They did so, reluctantly. Rogue and Storm both had had bad experiences with the spheres, and Storm was claustrophobic.

"I'll fly myself." She said.

"Don't be foolish. I'm much faster." Magneto argued.

"I **said, **I'll fly myself!" She took to the skies.

Magneto levitated all of the spheres into the air as well as the damaged Blackbird and sentinel parts before flying off with them.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**AN:** Not exactly Brotherhood action, but action nonetheless. Constructive Criticism is always welcome. Thanks for reading. Its exam time so its probably going to be a week before I can update. Later!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 10**

"How could this have happened?" was the question of the day. Logan and Colossus were both in the medical ward. Jean had woken up earlier with a terrible headache, but had otherwise been fine. She went up to her room with several aspirin to sleep. The new recruits had stopped their search for Amara and had returned to the mansions. They been ordered not to intrude into the medical ward. They had heard what happened quickly enough, and then spent the day inside. None of them felt comfortable with the outdoors at the moment. Tabitha in particular seemed bothered, her best friend having disappeared yesterday, and sentinels appearing again today.

Logan's healing factor hadn't entirely taken care of the burns he received earlier. The dead tissue seemed to have impeded the regeneration process. Dry blackened flakes were falling off of his arms, legs, and one side of his ribs. Underneath those spots new cells were rapidly growing, dividing, and growing again, pushing the currently dead parts out of the body. His hair had been singed and had to be cut off, but his hair grew fast enough, and would be back to normal within a few days. He had yet to wake up.

Colossus was simply bruised in several places, and rather sore. He had woken up, but Beast had insisted that he stay in the bed for the rest of the day and overnight. Kitty hadn't left his side from the moment the X-men had returned.

Scott, Magnus, Ororo, and Professor Xavier were all in Xavier's office.

"Let's start from the beginning." Xavier said, as he placed his fingers together in his classic "steeple" formation. "Scott, Ororo, what happened?"

The two mutants looked at each other, and Scott began speaking. "We were just out of Bayville. Everything looked good. Then, without any warning at all, we got shot. Logan and I managed to level the Blackbird out and land it, but then a sentinel ripped the top of the jet off and started shooting that green stuff at us. We fought it off and I saw two more flying above, which was when Storm called you and we hid beneath the jet. Storm made enough fog that they couldn't find us, and then Magneto tore them to pieces." He finished, stepping back.

Xavier looked at Ororo and Magnus, who both nodded. "Well then, what we have to ask ourselves is where these sentinels came from. Did they know that the X-men were leaving the mansion, and if so, how? Were we their target or simply in their way? And, if we were not their target, then what was?"

"We know that S.H.I.E.L.D. Restarted the sentinel program during the incident with Apocalypse. It's possible that they were made at that time and recently activated. I don't know if S.H.I.E.L.D ever shut down the project." Scott said.

"However, Bolivar Trask was released and pardoned in order to continue making sentinels. He could have gone back to his old ways, although it seems extremely unlikely for him to order such a brash attack. If you had all taken a few moments longer to leave, then the battle would have been in broad daylight right above Bayville," said Magnus.

"Magnus, when you brought the parts back, you examined them. Did you find anything that might reveal their origin?" Ororo asked.

"I only performed a cursory check, but there were no symbols, logos, or any other markings that I could find. It's possible that they were sent by an unknown third party, but if so, then that particular group has chosen not to advertise their existence to us yet."

Xavier spoke up. "I'll call Forge. He might be able to find something that we can't. In addition, I don't think it would be wise for any mutant in Bayville to be unknowing of this threat. Hopefully they will all move into the mansion for the time being." He looked up at Magnus expectantly.

"Who is Forge?" Magnus asked, dodging the question of whether the Brotherhood would move in or not completely.

Xavier sighed, knowing that his friend was being difficult. "Forge is a remarkable young man that we met shortly after I formed the X-men. He is a genius in the fields of engineering. In fact, that is his power. He can build anything he can imagine. Although his appearance is that of a teenager, he is actually over forty years old. He may be able to find something in the sentinels' programming or be able to identify where the parts were made. Now, as for my question. Will the Brotherhood move into the mansion Magnus? Will you stay until this is dealt with?"

Both Ororo and Scott turned to Magneto sharply. They had no idea he was leaving the institute. In fact, other than Charles, nobody at the mansion knew.

"You're leaving? But why Magnus?" Ororo asked, shocked.

"Personal reasons. I'd like to keep them private." He responded coldly. He turned to Charles, "Yes. If anything, this only shows humanity is not ready for us yet Charles. I will be taking the Brotherhood and leaving Bayville. Hopefully they will do better out of this town full of bigots." He spit the words harshly. "I will remain here for a few more days, but no longer."

"I understand." Xavier said sadly. "I won't try to change your mind. Now, onto our original business. Did whoever sent the sentinels know that the X-men were leaving the mansion?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance was not having a good day. He hadn't slept at all the night before. Sure, it was cool to sleep next to a really hot chick at first, until he realized that if he did anything, then he would be butchered in horribly creative ways by Wolverine. So he spent the whole night sleeping wide awake, afraid that if he fell asleep he would inadvertently begin making out with her in his sleep. Another problem was the heat. It was after all, the middle of summer. If it had just been himself he would have tried to sleep without any of his covers on at all. But, Amara didn't seem to be bothered by it at all and wrapped up the both of them in several layers of blankets. So he had roasted the whole night, as his and Amara's body heat combined to make an exceptionally uncomfortable oven.

Needless to say, by the time the rest of the Brotherhood had gone to train, he had taken a cold shower.

Then, he spent the day with a growing headache as he had to put up with a rather bitchy young teenager who wanted to go outside. It didn't take long for him to grow irritated with her constant demands. And, of course, Mastermind had disappeared, so there was no help to be found from him.

"Lance get me something to drink."

"Lance I'm hungry. Make me something to eat."

"Lance I want to go outside."

"Don't you get any more channels than this?"

"There isn't anything to do."

"Can I try your guitar?"

"Why can't I go outside?"

And so it went. Lance was doing his best to act civilly. Not necessarily to make her happy, but rather so that she wouldn't start asking other, more complex questions. Like questions about sentinels, and the X-men. He had already taken three fans up to his room, in order to ensure that he wouldn't roast when he tried to sleep that night.

"Amara." He drawled out. She looked up at him, only now noticing the circles under his eyes. "I have a terrible headache. The rest of the Brotherhood will be back here in about an hour. Let's go up to my room now. I need to take a nap." He said the words warmly enough, but it would have taken a complete idiot to miss the undercurrent of white-hot anger underneath them.

Surprisingly, she agreed.

They both laid down, careful not to touch each other, which was nearly impossible on his small bed. Lance fell asleep nearly instantly. Amara however, only lay there for several minutes, before getting up. After checking to make certain that Lance was actually asleep, she quietly snuck out of his room.

'He might say that I'm not allowed to go outside, but it will only be for a little while. Nobody will know.' She thought. She went out the back door so that no one would see her. After a brief check, she determined that there were no sentinels nearby, and started walking to the subway to head into town and get some clothes. Lance didn't expect her to wear the same thing the whole time she was at the Brotherhood house did he?

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance was awakened when he was thrown into the wall on the far side of his room.

"Where **is** she?" Sabretooth hissed, as he picked Lance up by his shirt collar.

Lance blinked himself awake, groggily. "Who?"

"_Amara!"_ growled Creed.

Lance looked at his bed, only to see it empty. He turned back to Sabretooth, who's face was so close to his that he could gag on the feral mutant's breath. "Oh shi-"

"Damn right oh shit! She's gone. You go out the window. I'll track her down the best I can. Find her, and bring her back before any X-men find her!" Sabretooth walked out of Lance's room and slammed the door. His stomping could be heard going down the stairs, before he yelled **"ANYONE WHO BOTHERS LANCE IS A DEAD MAN!"**

Lance jumped out of his window and landed easily on the ground sixteen feet below. The ability to absorb seismic energy – a subset of kinetic energy in general – was useful for more than just making the ground shake.

He couldn't take any vehicle at the brotherhood house or everyone would know that he wasn't actually sick and that he wasn't actually in his room. So, after sneaking through the trees behind the house till he decided he was far enough away, he moved to the street. Sabretooth was on the sidewalk sniffing the ground a block away. Lance jogged east, while Sabretooth headed north. After he reached a fairly well used intersection he stopped. He took his shirt off and wrapped it around his face and head so only his eyes showed. Soon enough, a gray Accord stopped at the sign. He quickly ran up to the drivers door and tore it open.

The girl inside looked up at him, shocked. She opened her mouth to scream, but found it covered by his right hand. His left reached out over her and vibrated the seatbelt buckle into pieces in an instant. He grabbed the girl and threw her out of the car harshly, then jumped in and sped away.

He tore the shirt off his head and threw it to the passengers seat. Once he had distanced himself from the scene of the car-jacking he began to drive following basic rules of the road – ignore stop signs, ignore pedestrians, yellow means speed up, red only advises you to stop, any car that doesn't get out of the way fast enough deserves to be avalanched to the side of the road.

He arrived at the Bayville mall soon enough.

He ran inside pulling his shirt on, pushing others out of his way much in the same way Wolverine had a day before. He found her in the third clothing shop he checked.

"What are you doing here?" He asked frantically, grabbing Amara's wrists and pulling her next to him.

"Hey let go! I'm just getting some clothes." She said back harshly, trying to pull herself free.

"Not anymore. We have to get back to the boarding house now. If anyone saw you we could be in big trouble." He said seriously. He hoped to God that the X-men hadn't chosen to come to the mall that day.

"I didn't see any sentinels." She retorted.

He made a face before responding. When he did he looked right into her eyes and said very plainly, "Amara. We need to leave now. Come with me. Don't make any problems."

She stopped moving for a moment and her eyes glazed over. "Alright."

He led her out of the store and to a car that someone had foolishly left their keys in.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Sabretooth I've got her. At the mall. Yeah, we're on our way back right now. Okay, we'll meet you at the end of the block." Lance hung up his cell phone and continued driving. His passenger was uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe she finally realized how pissed he was at her. She needed a good beating to drive some sense into her skull, since she obviously didn't know how to follow orders. He stopped the car he was in three blocks away from his meeting point with Sabretooth and led her to the corner that he agreed to meet at. Sabretooth arrived a few minutes later.

"Did anyone see you?" he asked.

"No. Nobody was at the mall. The X-men weren't there at all." He responded. Sabretooth nodded.

They all snuck back outside of Lance's window, which was still open. Creed easily grabbed Lance and threw him up to it. He crawled inside and turned around in time to catch Amara.

Sabretooth opened his door only a minute later.

"What happened?"

"We decided to take a nap. You woke me up and she was gone, off at the mall." Lance said. Amara was standing off to the side of the two men, looking at her feet.

Sabretooth turned to her. "Tell me what happened."

She sniffed once before answering. When she spoke though, she mumbled too much for any words to be made out.

"Talk **better **or else you won't be able to ever talk again," he said growled out.

"I just wanted to go out and get some clothes. I don't have anything else to wear." She said quickly and quietly, never looking up.

"**Don't** leave again. It's dangerous out there." He gave Lance a look that said '_Magneto will hear about this' _before he walked out of the room.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Second to last chapter of the first part of this story. Next up, Magneto leaves Xavier, and the Brotherhood leaves Bayville. Let me know about any spelling or grammar errors. I'm sorry to say this, but updates are only going to come about once a week now. My professors have begun considerably increasing my workload and I finally got a job. If I ever get far enough ahead then there may be more than one a week, but otherwise that's all I can guarantee. Thanks for reading


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 11**

Magneto walked up to the brotherhood house. He had gotten an angry phone call from Creed about Amara leaving the house earlier that day, and was there to make sure everything was working well. He entered his house and called the Brotherhood to him. They all walked into the cramped entryway to hear what he had to say.

"We are all going to be leaving Bayville within a few days. Begin packing now. We will keep this house as a reserve base, to be used if it is needed, but don't leave any personal items here. We can't have humans coming in here to find anything of ours." He said authoritatively. He paused for a moment before proceeding. "Lance will be leaving tonight. As a reward, you all will have tomorrow off from training. You can leave the house, go into Bayville – I don't care. However, all of you must keep your phones with you and on." He looked at the mutants assembled before him. "Dismissed. Gambit, Sabretooth, Mastermind, come with me."

He led them to Mastermind's bedroom. Once they entered he paused before looking at Jason. He had apparently not thought of a place for the telepath to sleep. "Your contracts are all about to expire. I would like to renew them. Is there any of you that doesn't want to continue working for me?"

The three of them all paused to consider what he was offering. Sabretooth was looking at the floor, mouthing words to himself silently. Mastermind leaned against a wall and adopted a similar position, although without the silent mutterings. Gambit seemed torn. He kept looking at the other mutants, and then back to a deck of cards he was shuffling. After a moment Victor stepped forward.

"Not right now. I can't stand to work with those dang kids for too long. If you ever need me to pull a job for you I'm sure you can get a hold of me, but it's time for me to go back to doing other things." He said calmly. Remy was impressed. He hadn't even known Sabretooth could say any sentence that long without snarling or growling.

Magneto nodded, "Very well. You may no longer work for me, but know that I am not someone to cross." Sabretooth nodded and walked out of the room.

Mastermind stepped forward, "I will continue working for you as I have in the past. On my own until you need me."

"Good. I need you to stay with me for a few more days until you can do more work on the girl." Mastermind nodded and left as well. Remy presumed that his boss meant Wanda.

"Well Gambit? Will you stay on as a full time member of the Brotherhood?" Magneto asked, his voice echoing eerily in the small room, as he focused his harsh gaze at Gambit.

"Not full time. Just like I am now. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mutant rights, but I'm nobody's soldier." He gestured to show that he meant it in an unoffensive way. "I'll stay mercenary, but only for a few months. Then I'll decide whether to stay or not." Gambit said.

Inwardly he was having difficulty deciding what to do. He did believe in mutant rights. Magneto was for mutant _superiority_ though. Remy didn't want anybody to be in charge of another people, but that seemed to be a far fetched dream for the time being. Xavier seemed to believe it was possible, but the way he was going about it was simply one of the most stupid things Remy had ever seen. He simply couldn't understand what the X-men believed or thought. Deep down, Remy was selfish and he knew it. He acted in a complicated role of appearing self serving while seeming like a good person underneath, but under that were his true feelings, which absolutely couldn't understand doing things for others for no reason. He couldn't necessarily justify working for him but at least Magneto was willing to do what had to be done to solve problems, doing both the good and bad in order that things be done right. Xavier was nothing more than another politician unwilling to get his hands dirty or have any stain on his reputation. When it came down to it, Remy would pick Magneto every time and he knew it. The least he could do was make a few bucks in the process.

"When the war comes you must pick a side, or you'll be destroyed when you're caught in the middle. I advice you to pick my side." Magneto said, seeming to threaten the Cajun.

"I might monsieur." He said, looking down. He perked up suddenly and cockiness crept back into his voice. "Although I don't plan on being caught at all." He didn't see Magneto's eyes narrow as he sauntered out of the room.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance woke up as his door opened. Once Sabretooth had left he had given Amara the cold shoulder, and after a few moments she crawled onto his bed and went to sleep, or at least pretended to sleep. She seemed to be doing her best to stop herself from crying. While she did that, he sat in the window, feeling a breeze blow by, but not into his room. He must have fallen asleep at some point, and was thankful that he hadn't tumbled out of the house and to the ground below.

Magneto walked in.

Lance jumped to his feet and ignored the headrush as he came to attention.

"What happened?" Magneto asked angrily.

"She snuck out earlier when I was asleep. I told her not to, but she acted like she was asleep as well. I thought that Mastermind - " He was cut off.

"Mastermind had nothing to do with this. It was **your** job to ensure that she didn't leave the house. You failed." Lance cringed inwardly, but his pride made him give the appearance of looking strong. "Now I am forced to take measures I had hoped to wait several more days to do," said Magneto.

"Pack up your clothes, your uniform, and anything else that you own. I am moving you and her to one of my bases where you will remain until the rest of the Brotherhood joins you."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The orb opened up, and Lance and Amara stepped out into a large well lit metal room. As they stepped out, they both saw several other spheres in line with the one they stepped out of. Each rested in a dip in the metal floor below, presumably to stop them from rolling. Magneto stood to the side. As soon as Amara saw him she shrieked and went into her magma form. He seemed surprised and looked at Lance.

"Hey cut it out!" He ordered. She looked at him and then back at Magneto.

"What is going on? You told me we were going to be safe!" She shouted, stepping away from both of them.

"We **are.**" He growled. "Now power down, and quit making a scene!" He paused, and she ran behind the sphere they had come out of. "Jesus." Lance growled quietly. "Get over here!"

Her voice called back from behind the sphere. "I can't" The lights in the room flickered, as the floor began to vibrate slightly. Both were warning signs of the other two mutants getting very irritated with her. "It's my clothes. They're burnt up. Can you throw me some?" She asked fearfully.

Lance sighed. Another sphere opened, which contained his suitcases. He opened one and threw a shirt and shorts to her over the orb. After a minute Amara came out wearing both.

"Are you quite finished now? We **are** on a schedule." Magneto said angrily.

He began to give them a brief tour, showing them sleeping quarters, the kitchen, bathroom, his own "Danger Room," and computer room, bypassing several storage rooms and closets.

"I will arrive in several days with the rest of the Brotherhood. **Do not** break anything or go any place I told you not to enter. Do not try to leave. Do not use the computers. Lance you are in charge. Don't fail me again." He said threateningly. Lance nodded, while Amara looked miffed. They all walked back to the hanger, where the roof opened and he flew out.

The younger mutants watched him leave. Neither had any idea what part of the world they were in, or what else there was in the base. All they knew was that they had run of a secret paramilitary base, were completely undetectable, and were alone.

"So what do we do now Lance?" Amara asked petulantly. It was obvious that she was unhappy that he was in charge. "I thought you said Magneto would be angry if he found an X-man at the house."

"Let's just get some sleep." Lance said, too tired to put up with her for much longer. She needed to be slapped a few times, to get the bitchiness out of her. As they walked to the sleeping quarters, a thought struck him. 'Then why not slap her? Nobody is around to stop you. _You_ are in charge for once. _You_ decide what is right and wrong. Teach her a thing or two.'

He shook his head to clear it as they walked. She was in front of him, and it was hard to focus on anything as her hips swayed back and forth, enticing him with the knowledge that there was nothing else under his clothes. 'I won't. She's a kid. She just needs to grow up a little.'

The other half of him responded, 'Yeah, she does. She needs to learn that her attitude won't be tolerated here. And the only way for someone to learn is through pain. You know that well enough. Would you rather Magneto or Sabretooth do it?'

'Well, no. But I – No! I **won't!**'

'You're pathetic. When are you ever going to get another chance like this? You want to be a leader, but you can't handle doing anything that might make you look bad. You're _just like **Xavier**_'

'NO I'M NOT!'

The two mutants were nearly to the rooms now. She walked a little faster, going ahead of him. As he watched for a moment she purposefully walked into largest room, partially shutting the metal door.

"This one's **mine.** You can pick from one of the other rooms." She said smugly.

And then she smirked.

She smirked at him just before she shut the door. He stood there stunned.

'That little bitch! Who does she think she is? Treating you like shit, getting you in trouble, and now mocking you! Mocking you! Fuck it and fuck her!'

Lance fully agreed.

His features became calm, and he slowly walked up to "her" door. He knocked lightly. The door opened and she appeared, with a smug smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" She said condescendingly.

"Yeah." He responded, before fiercely pushing his lips onto hers.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N: **Bit shorter chapter, but it was a good place to end it, I felt. Now, I have, in my opinion, both very good in-fic, and out of fic reasons for what Lance just did, but you will all have to wait for them to be revealed. In addition, gonna be an end to the Lance focus of the past few chapters as Pietro gets the spotlight.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 12**

It was his day off, and he couldn't enjoy it. Pietro _knew_ that Lance wasn't sick. Whenever he was sick, he spent his time complaining about it as loudly as possible. He would never lock himself up in his room and spend his entire day in there quietly by himself. But, if Lance wasn't sick, then why all the secrecy? What was he doing for Magneto, that Pietro couldn't do? Why did he visit the X-mansion if he wasn't sick? He wasn't going out with Kitty anymore, and he hated everyone else over there – especially that _traitor – _Rogue. Pietro didn't consider himself to be a traitor, at least not as bad of one as Rogue was. All he had done was what his father had asked. The rest of the Brotherhood had gone up against _them._ If anything, they were the traitors. Plus, at least he hadn't joined the other team and started fighting the Brotherhood. Not like Rogue. Pietro was completely trustworthy.

So _why_ did Magneto prefer Avalanche?

The only reason had to be his powers. Pietro was better than Lance in every other way. He was faster, smarter, stronger, healthier, and had total self-control. Not like Avalanche. He was about as stable as a volcano! One moment, calm and pretty normal. The next, over the top and ready to bring down a couple city blocks.

But if it was only for his powers, then why had Avalanche gotten to go to the new base before everyone else had?

Pietro had been the second-in-command of the Brotherhood. Naturally, once everybody thought Magneto had died, he stayed in charge, whether the others liked it or not. But, once the battle against Apocalypse was over, Magneto had returned and explicitly stated that there was no second-in-command and that only he, Magneto, was in charge. Pietro had lost a lot of face being demoted from his rank. Was Avalanche going to replace him? Mystique preferred the rock-tumbler, not Magneto. At least, Pietro was pretty sure Magneto didn't prefer Avalanche over himself. Of course, before Mystique and Magneto had broken up, Avalanche had been in charge as field commander and second-in-command under Mystique, which was probably known to Magneto, who might have ordered it that way. It was impossible to know for certain if Magneto had wanted things that way..

After Pietro had "betrayed" the Brotherhood, he and Lance had never gotten along again very well. Sure, they didn't _hate_ each other, but there was a definite gap between them that hadn't existed before. At least, Pietro was pretty sure that Lance didn't hate him. At least not anymore. The guy held grudges, but hopefully not for that long.

Pietro stopped for a moment and looked around. He had been absently jogging while thinking and found himself downtown, near where the Brotherhood had saved those guys from the runaway bus. A few people walking by looked at him, always looking away when he looked back. Everybody in Bayville knew he was a mutant, and they never let him forget that for even one minute. He stopped walking and glared at everyone that stared at him. A police car that had been resting near the side of the street a block away started up, and drove past slowly, while the officer watched him.

He turned around and quickly sprinted away. Even if he did have a day off, that didn't mean there even was any place to enjoy it.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Pietro lay on the couch languidly, slowly flipping through channels, while not really watching what was on. Remy and John had left earlier, off to spend the day drinking and trying to pick up women. Victor and Jason hadn't been seen all day, so he assumed they weren't at the house. Todd and Fred had gone into town as well. His sister was upstairs in her room, doing who knew what. On a day like this, Pietro would have ordinarily spent it with Lance, mostly because Fred and Todd would have been gone, and nobody hung out with Wanda. The two of them were probably closer to each other than they were to any other member of the team. Fred and Todd, and Lance and Pietro. Both pairs were trouble for anybody in their way. Combined, everybody knew to watch out for the Brotherhood. He missed the early days of the Brotherhood, back before mutants had become known to the public. Mystique would always have been bitching about something or other, before finally either leaving the house or going up to her room and ignoring them. The guys would spend a small amount of time pretending to attempt to do their homework before quitting and watching movies or hanging out every night. Then, of course, the whole Asteroid M thing happened and the X-men had to go and fuck things up for them. It still hadn't been too bad for everyone after that. Sure Mystique was gone and they had to steal money from time to time, but no adult supervision rocked. Then of course, Mystique came back and Magneto started talking with him privately again, and everything got fucked up again until Apocalypse. And now, he was back to being a soldier. He wasn't even eighteen yet, and he was already one of the premiere soldiers for his father's army. He was supposed to fight in a war that he didn't even care about. Plus, he couldn't even trust half the people that were on "his" side. Magneto's plans were all going to fall apart, and then everything would probably be fucked up _yetagain_ for God only knows how long.

Then of course, there was his sister. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about her. Should he tell her the truth? Should he just say fuck it, so that the two were on the same side at least? Should he tell her the truth and join **her** side? He had no idea. As it was right now though, Wanda kept acting weird, trying to talk to him and spend time with him a lot, and he just couldn't handle it. She'd talk about things from her "perfect" childhood, and he was expected to remember them as well. Plus, he just couldn't stand it. There she was, acting so** _normal_.** It wasn't his sister trying to talk to him, but some clone that took her place. Someone that looked like his sister, but didn't act like her, and thought that he was her brother. So, whenever she started to come down those stairs from her room, he did what he would always do: Shut the television off, and run.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Two Days Later

"Do you all have everything packed up? We're leaving in five minutes." Magneto asked, as the remaining members of the Brotherhood gathered around him. He received a chorus of affirmative nods and grunts.

The Brotherhood house had been stripped down. It was almost unrecognizable to its former inhabitants now. Everything that wasn't required in the event that the house had to be used again had been thrown out, and the entire house has had been cleaned. Graffiti on the walls that had been there for over a year was gone, new paint had been put on the cabinets, the furniture had all been reupholstered, and more than anything else, it was simply so _clean._ There was no dirt anywhere. No dust, no slime, no mold, no stains. The entire house actually looked like an acceptable place to live for once. It made the Brotherhood members somewhat morose when they realized they could have lived in a much nicer abode if they had simply spent a day cleaning the place up. Now, the house was all clean and had nobody to live in it.

Pietro stood next to his sister, who was on the edge of the group surrounding Magneto. He had quickly taken the spot next to her when he saw Todd notice an opportunity to be next to her. The little guy hadn't been so bad recently, but that was only because Lance had been around. Once he had gone, Toad instantly went back to his old ways. Pietro had had to take up the role the menacing older brother in order to deter him. It didn't come to him as easily as it came to Lance it seemed. Probably because Lance needed anger management, and Pietro was perfect. Well, nearly perfect. He did probably have a few complexes from having to deal with his insanely powerful father and sister, as well as being "abandoned" by his father at such a young age, but they didn't seem to cause any problems.

"Very well. Let's go." Magneto led everyone out to the backyard with the exception of Sabretooth, who had formally left the team earlier that day. Everyone threw a suitcase or two into one large metal sphere before climbing into another for themselves. Once they were all in, the spheres ascended and they left the Brotherhood house behind.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

When the spheres opened up again, it appeared that they were in some sort of hanger built specifically to hold the spheres. Gambit, Pyro, and Mastermind all seemed familiar enough with their surroundings, and after grabbing a suitcase each, left through a small door in one side of the room. Standing near it was dirty looking Lance, carrying an unconscious girl over his shoulder.

Pietro sped over to his friend, ignoring Magneto's short speech to everyone that hadn't been to the base before. The older mutant looked like hell. Dark circles were under his eyes, and he looked paler than usual. He was starting to show the beginnings of a black eye, and had several other bruises and burns on his arms. He was favoring his left arm in particular, which was covered in gauze.

"Hey! What happened to you?" Pietro asked rapidly. He pointed at the girl Lance was carrying. "Who's that?" He quickly ran around Lance and looked at the girl before the other mutant could answer. The girl in question was one of the X-men, but Pietro couldn't remember which one.

"Is that an X-man? What's she doing here? What's going on?" Pietro demanded quickly.

Lance waved at him to slow down and wait a moment before he walked towards Magneto, who was still talking to the younger members of the Brotherhood. Once their leader saw him and the girl he stopped and turned his attention to Lance.

"What happened?" Magneto asked harshly.

Lance responded sardonically, "Let's just say that Mastermind didn't do a very good job. She didn't like it much when she found out." He paused for a moment, shifting Amara so that she could be seen better. Her face had a large bump on it, where it had swelled from being hit earlier. "Oh yeah. The living quarters need a few repairs now."

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**AN: **This is...a very weak chapter. I'm still pretty busy, but things are finally lightening up a little that I should be able to update more frequently. I felt bad about not updating at all, so I kind of pushed this chapter out a little quickly it seemed. It will more than likely get a few revisions as I look it over the next few days, but I felt like posting it once it was essentially complete. As it is, since the chapter is mostly from Pietro's perspective, I tried to make it slightly non sequitur since it would be to mundane to drag him down and make the reading demean him in order to make it more understandable. As always _please_ let me know of any spelling or grammar errors, and definitely any continuity errors. Once again, constructive criticism is always welcome, and asked for. Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution

**Chapter 13**

Remy walked by Avalanche on his way to his room. Magneto was back telling all the younger mutants the rules for staying on base, and Remy didn't really care to hear them again. As he walked by, he took a second look when he saw what he had assumed to be some luggage on Avalanche's shoulder. It was an X-man.

He could have stopped an asked the questions that sprang to mind, but decided that he would find out soon enough and continued walking, without another glance back.

Pyro was leading the way to their rooms, with Mastermind right behind him, and Remy last. Technically they didn't have assigned rooms, but each of them simply grabbed one and used it exclusively. As Remy rounded the last corner he slammed right into Mastermind, who had stopped in the middle of the hallway. The other mutant let out a short growl, and Remy felt himself fall downwards into a giant pool of lava before the illusion ended and found himself back in the hall again. He narrowed his eyes at Mastermind, who didn't notice his irritation, so consumed was he with the rest of the hall that led to their living quarters. Remy looked past him, and couldn't help the words that escaped his lips.

"Mon dieu."

Everything past the point where Pyro had stopped was blackened and cracked. The rooms looked like they exploded, and pieces of the ceiling in the hallway had fallen, revealing steel girders above that were partially melted. There were a few melted holes in the wall, that looked like they had been doors at one point, but now looked nothing like one. The floor, walls, and few pieces of ceiling were all blackened. As Remy looked on, he smelled smoke and wondered why he hadn't noticed it earlier.

There were cracks running through everything as well. Not just small cracks either, but large fissures several inches across that tore themselves through the walls and floor. There were a few in the ceiling, but most simply ended in the large portions of it missing. Missing completely. There were a few small black chunks of something incinerated on the floor, but it was impossible to tell what they once were.

Taped to the wall was a piece of paper that had the words "_Danger. Don't go further in. Weak floor._" written in horrible handwriting. Pyro ignored it and proceeded to take several steps forward and jumping back. As Remy also jumped back with Mastermind doing the same, they watched the section of floor that Pyro had stepped on shift dangerously.

"What the bloody hell did that bloke do!?" Pyro exclaimed once he stood back up. Beside him, Mastermind sighed.

"Guess we better talk to Magneto." Remy said, and went back to the main hanger.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Start from the beginning." Magneto ordered. Everyone had moved into the "rec" room. Rec wasn't actually an appropriate term, since it was simply a storage room that Magneto hadn't needed. The senior members of the Brotherhood had put a table and several chairs in it with a television, and normally spent their time there.

Wanda watched Lance interestedly. He was standing at one end of the room, while everyone else arranged themselves in the various chairs other than Magneto, who stood. Her father hadn't reacted as badly as Wanda had thought he might when he saw the destruction of the rooms. He simply said in a very quiet voice for the Brotherhood to go into this room so that Avalanche could explain what happened. Her brother seemed ready to go nuts from having to wait, but had finally calmed down enough to stop receiving glares from Magneto, Lance, and the senior members of team. He sat a few seats away from her. Toad had looked like he was going to sit next to her in in a nearby chair, but looked at Lance and Pietro before deciding to sit next to Fred.

"Well..." Lance began.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Two days earlier

Lance pushed himself off of the girl below quickly.

'What have I done?' He asked himself. Below him, Amara looked up at him fearfully.

'What you needed to do.' He responded to himself.

'No. This was wrong. I should not have-'

'Bullshit! You did nothing wrong! She got what was coming to her, and besides, she didn't exactly say no did she?'

'Well, no. But that doesn't matter. I just fucking raped-'

'No you didn't. She was into it. She responded. She didn't try to stop you did she? And she could have too. Not like you can touch her when she's living lava.'

'Well, yeah. But for God's sake, LOOK AT HER!' He screamed back at himself.

Amara did not look good. Lance had rolled off of the bed and started putting his clothes on, and she had curled up under the bed covers. Tears were running down her face, as she sobbed silently.

Lance didn't know what to say. What could he say? What just happened? Did she like him? It _wasn't_ like she had wanted to have sex, but she hadn't stopped him or ever said no. Hell, she even got into it after a while. But...

But was that because of Mastermind?

"Look. I'm sorry Amara. I don't know why I did that. We can't tell anyone though. Magneto wouldn't..." He began saying tentatively. Lance was afraid of her going nuclear on him any minute, and his words sounded horribly lame even to himself.

She suddenly shot up, cutting him off, and he got another nice view of her breasts, which he tried to ignore as he focused on her face.

"Why not?! Why can't we ever talk about anything?! Why can't I know what's going on?! Why doesn't Magneto care that I'm here?! Why did sentinels attack?! Why aren't I with the X-men?! Why don't you ever give me a straight answer?!" She screeched out.

"Why...Why..." She faltered as her eyes began to stare vacantly, but shook her head suddenly, and looked back at him. "Why can't I..." Her whole body shook for a moment, before her face turned ugly and a mask of rage appeared on it.

"What did you do to me?" She hissed slowly, as dawning comprehension came to her face.

"You had some telepath do something to my head didn't you!" Her face turned into a mask of rage as her hands turned into flames, and the bed began catching fire.

Lance could have diffused the situation if he hadn't panicked. As it happened though, he took a step back and began channeling seismic energy into himself rapidly in preparation for a fight. He had forgotten that Amara could feel the Earth's energy though, and felt it suddenly surge into him. She interpreted it as a hostile action and went into her full magma form, burning right through the bed she now stood in.

She started the fight, by pointing both hands at him and sending a stream of lava towards him. Lance ducked and rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding being turned into blackened crisp. She was pissed! He let out a surge of energy that threw the bed she was standing in away from him and towards the far wall. It picked her up and slammed her into the wall, which she immediately began melting, as the bed finally collapsed, spreading the fire that raged on it through the room.

It took a moment for Lance to see Amara through the smoke and flames, but soon enough he saw her walk from the fire like a demon walking out of hell. She turned towards him and launched a massive fireball towards him. He ran to his right, out the door, but not before a shower of hot sparks landed on him.

As he looked back into the room from the hallway he now stood in he saw the floor beginning to turn orange as the steel heated up. The metal dresser on the far left side of the room – the side opposite Amara – fell over as the legs became to soft to support its weight. Amara appeared in the doorway, her expression unrecognizable behind the shimmering mirages her heat produced.

He let out a burst of energy, rocking her back into the room. She launched a fireball at the same time. The fireball flew towards the ceiling as she flew backwards, blackening it, and showering Lance with small flames again. He brushed himself off as best he could, but small burns and blisters were already forming on his neck and arms. In addition, his shirt became singed.

Amara came out of the room again, running this time instead of simply walking out. She jumped perfectly over the metal floor as Lance literally shook it into jelly, and was on top of him. She reached above herself to bring down her flaming arms on him, but Lance suddenly felt a horribly sharp pain behind his eyes. When he was able to focus on his surroundings again, he saw Amara picking herself up off the floor, looking at him with surprise.

'Of course...she's rock right now too.' He smirked as he saw that she realized that as well.

"Give up Amara! You can't beat me." He said smugly.

She responded with a fireball.

He ducked just in time and rolled to his left before causing the floor to launch her away from him and down the hall towards the rest of the base. He rapidly realized that fighting in the hallway was a quick way to die as it filled with flames rushing towards him. He turned and ran, jumping into one of the rooms before he was deep fried by the flames rushing past the door.

"Come on out and let's see who can beat who now!" Amara called from her position in the hallway.

Lance knew better than to try to leave through the door he just entered. 'When one door closes, make another.' He thought as he tore a hole in the side wall of the room he was in, leading to another bedroom. Smoke filled his eyes as he entered, and he realized that at least a few of the flammable items in this wing of the base had caught fire. He swung the door open that led into the hallway and saw he was nearly right beside the X-man. She looked at him surprised, and reacted too slowly to avoid his powers launching her down the hall towards the room he had just entered.

As she turned back to attack again, the roof above her collapsed from his powers and steel plates fell onto her. Most were incinerated before they even hit the floor. She turned towards him and the hall and rooms around her shook, as her anger made itself known in her own seismic powers. She saw the small ripple she made in the floor get swallowed by the much larger wave Avalanche had sent towards her, and jumped through a door on her left, melting it as she slammed it open.

Lance backed down the hall, away from all the rooms. He didn't want her to use the same trick on him that he had done on her, and made sure to keep an eye on all of the doors in the hall. There were five on each side, but he luckily only had to watch the ones on his right.

He waited for her move for several for minutes, and realized that she was trying to wait him out. It was working too; as the adrenaline began to drain, he started feeling the headache he knew was coming, as well as strained muscles from performing acrobatic exercises he wasn't flexible enough to do. His hands were bothering him as well, and he saw that they both had been burned slightly from something.

A small flame jumped out of the third door down and he jumped to attention, ready to avalanche her into a wall hard enough to knock her out.

And he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

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Three hours later

Lance tried to avoid rubbing his leg. She had blasted it pretty well the last time she had stepped out. It would probably require medical attention, since the part that had been burned the worse had lost all feeling, but the area around it hurt like hell.

'Screw this.' he thought as he decided to go on the offensive, hoping to surprise her with his sudden change of tactics. He began creeping down the hall towards the first door on the left - She had left the right side the second time she stepped out. It was hard to see with the smoke filling the air, so he had the advantage of stealth. If there were any fires burning it might be hard to see her, but he was pretty sure that they had all burned out and were only smoldering now.

He reached the door and jumped in silently but quickly, ready to launch her straight into something heavy and immovable when he saw her. Glancing around, he didn't see her anywhere, so he continued creeping through the room, trying to stay behind the smoking piles of blackened furniture in order to avoid being seen by her if she was in the second room on that side.

Lance jumped through the hole in between the first and second room and nearly landed on a naked, nonflaming Amara. Before she could react to his presence, he quickly grabbed hold of her arms and threw her away from him further into the room, and began rippling the floor.

In an astonishing show of agility, she flipped backwards through the air before landing on all fours and launching herself right back at him. Before Lance could react she punched him hard in the face, and followed up with several more punches into his stomach and chest. Then she launched a roundhouse towards him, knocking him back into the other room through the hole he came through. As he recovered from her assault, she quickly switched into her magma form.

As soon as Lance saw her switch into her fiery form he let loose a shockwave of energy from his position on the floor. It blasted her off of her feet and right onto her face. Before she could get up, he began shaking the hole in between the rooms that she lay in, in an attempt to bring the ceiling down on her. When she saw what he was trying to do she launched herself towards him. He got his arm up just in time to stop her from barreling completely into him.

He cried out as his arm came into contact with the searing hot magma.

Then, instead of pressing her advantage, Amara stopped and took a few steps backwards, as if she only then realized the fatal nature of her attacks.

Instead of letting the battle end however, Lance reacted in anger and pain, and sent a shockwave through the floor that launched her nearly thirty feet and into the opposite wall of the room he first found her in. As she lay embedded in the rapidly melting wall he let several large waves of steel slam into her body, forcing her further into the wall, before it cracked and she fell into the next room.

Rather than continuing his attack, Lance left the room, and fled back into the hallway, resuming his earlier position, while he holding his arm carefully.

Moments later and enraged Magma launched herself out of a the closest door to him and began throwing fire in every direction, while he did his best to avoid the flames and throw her back down the hall. The fires began to last longer and longer as she threw larger and larger flames at him, and he turned to run in order to save himself. However, a portion of the ceiling behind him had fallen, and the molten steel dripping down was literally on fire and blocking his escape route. He spun back around and saw Amara charging through the flames towards him and did the only thing he could think to do as the flames around quickly approached.

He gathered up all the seismic energy in the building around him as well as all that his tired body could still generate and released it as one massive world shaking shockwave.

The molten girder that had blocked his path earlier was flung away from him, and the walls rippled as the ceiling began to cave in. The flames that had been near him roared once tremendously before being snuffed out. The floor of the hallway around him split as massive fissures blasted their way through it, cracking the steel into pieces.

And Amara, still in her magma form, was thrown away from him back down the hall where she landed hard before reverting back to her normal human form.

As Lance looked around in a daze, he saw his opponent slowing gathering her wits again and saw his great chance.

While she was still slowly getting to her feet he rushed down the hall, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her hard, face first, into the near wall. She collapsed quickly and heavily.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N: ** Been a while since an update, but they should be more frequent now and regular. I know I've been saying that for a while now, but I really do mean it. Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always, let me know of any mistakes or difficult to understand parts. Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 14**

It had been two weeks since they had moved into the base. After hearing Lance's story, Magneto simply lead everyone to another part of the base that functioned as a barracks of sorts, for anticipated new recruits. It was simply one large room filled with bunk beds and footlockers. The Brotherhood spread out from each other as best as they could in order to give each of them a modicum of personal space. While they were moving in, Magneto took Mastermind and Amara with him, and Amara hadn't been seen since. After that first day, their schedule for each day consisted of nearly the same thing that it had back at the brotherhood house. Wake up, eat breakfast, train or work out most of the day, and then spend the evening however you liked. However, due to Lance's destruction of the bedrooms their options to entertain themselves were limited to sitting on their bed doing nothing, or sitting in the "rec" room watching movies with everyone else.

Needless to say, morale wasn't particularly high.

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Moments after Apocalypse's defeat

The cavern that imprisoned Apocalypse for five thousand years shuddered once before a fantastic burst of light appeared. The stale air began flowing outward, displaced from its position by the Eye of Ages. It was not however, the same vessel that was last seen by Wolverine and Rogue. This one spun awkwardly through the air before landing hard on the floor below it. In addition to the haphazard landing, it was smoking, and looked to have decayed from ages of disuse and decay. If anyone had been there so see the vehicle, they would have seen it being opened rather forcefully from the inside, the door torn open rather than sliding softly, as was its design. Out of the sundered door stepped a man. Or at least, it appeared to be a man. He was tall and thin, but fit. Two things made him stand out from any other figure that you might see every day though. For one, his skin was blue, and appeared to be covered in wires and thin blue plates. As for the other, he had metal gauntlets and boots on, and had a machine attached to his back.

Apocalypse dropped down from the vehicle he had been imprisoned in and breathed in the fresher air of the cave. As he knelt down, he examined his surroundings, hoping to garner some bit of information that might tell him what time he was in when he felt _them_.

His horsemen! They were still active!

He reached out to them mentally, trying to gain control, but even as he did his best to retain it, their minds slipped away from his, as the devices he used to control them failed.

He roared out in rage, shaking the cavern he was in, trying to make the world feel his power. There was no response from anyone or anything, which served to anger him even more.

How could he have been defeated? His technology was much more advanced than all others. Nothing should have been able to break through the spheres that protected his pyramids, and even if it could, there was nothing on the earth that would have been able to damage his pyramids. He was too advanced. Their primitive minds had no hope of even grasping the basics of the machines he had built and controlled.

Yet, when he had been freed from his prison a group of his own kind appeared, using the Eye to travel. In addition, those machines had been able to break through the spheres that even he had thought were impenetrable.

His face changed to an ugly grimace as he turned to look back at the Eye of Ages. Twice! He had been defeated twice by his own technology! It was obvious that the machines were not worth using anymore. They only lead to defeat, and this world had progressed much since his own time. Technology alone would not be sufficient to conquer and rule.

He rose and focused his power on the already damaged vessel. He had forcefully arrested its traveling and used the devices that he had merged with to force its return to the Earth. However, it had not been easy, and it had taken a long time in order to do it. A very long time. His sense of time had difficulty tracking how long he had been in it this time, but he estimated that it had taken at least several centuries, if not a millennium. It was pure chance that it had returned to the same time that it had left, but this had given him the opportunity to rebuild his great empire from the ground up. This time however, with the pure power of his own kind, and without the machines.

In moments the Eye of Ages began to glow a soft blue as he poured more of his power into it. Then, when he deemed that it had absorbed enough of his energy, he suddenly clenched his fist and released his hold over that energy. The soft glow suddenly turned into a blinding white light and the power roared. It would have deafened any other being on the planet, but would not phase Apocalypse in the slightest. He turned and left the cavern that the fragments of the Eye were cooling in.

There was one more thing that he needed to be rid of in order to start anew. It would hurt, but he was no stranger to pain. Pain gave strength, and he would not fear it. He looked down at himself and grabbed at the strange power that resided in him.

The machines that were attached to him begin to glow much like the Eye had moments before. Soon the glow of the machines seemed to bleed off of them and onto his body, spreading over it. Apocalypse looked down at his body and saw that he was ready to remove the devices that were literally part of him, merged into his body at its most base level. He clenched his fist and resolved not to shut his eyes as his body exploded.

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_'Mesmero...'_

_'Mesmero...'_

_ 'It is your master. Awaken, for there is much to do.'_

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Present Time

Wanda was terrified. The nightmares had been getting worse ever since she moved into the base with the rest of the Brotherhood. She lay in bed, unmoving for fear of attracting the attention of something she didn't know. Toad's snoring overrode the sounds of the others' breathing, but if she waited long enough she could begin identifying each person's breathing and know where everyone else in the room was.

She wouldn't be able to fall back asleep tonight. Whenever she woke up from the nightmares she wasn't able to. They were coming three or four times a week now, and the lack of sleep was beginning to show. She tried to hide how tired she was, but Remy had begun noticing that she was even more lethargic than normal, and even Fred had asked her if she was alright the day before.

The problem was that she couldn't shake the feeling that the dreams were real. The emotions she felt in them were so strong that she couldn't just dismiss them. She had heard of repressed memories before, and wasn't able to shake the possibility that she had done so to her own memories. But when? She hadn't had a bad childhood or abusive parent. Her brother and father were always there for her, even when she was at her lowest, like when her cat died. But nowadays, for some reason she couldn't remember his name. In fact, she didn't even feel bad anymore that he died. It was probably simply because she had gotten over it, but something just didn't seem right. She remembered crying for days when he died, but she didn't remember any strong feelings of the event at that time. In addition, she just wasn't someone that would have acted like that. She never cried. Yet she remembered crying a lot as a child. Sometime from her childhood memories and that hazy period where she didn't remember much up until she joined the Brotherhood she had become a different person.

Maybe something _had_ happened to her, and nobody was willing to talk about it. Her brother or father would have told her though, unless they didn't want her to remember, like if it was something really bad. Or maybe, they thought that she knew what happened so there was no reason to ever talk about it.

A sudden snort from Toad brought her back to reality and she clutched the bed tightly, too afraid to move again.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Pietro?"

Uh oh. His sister was in "that mood" again where she wanted to spend time with him and talk about when they were younger. Before she could even begin wording the next sentence she was about to speak he had already thought of an excuse and turned to face her at nearly the same speed a normal human would when addressed.

"Yeah sis?" He asked pleasantly, with a fake smile on his face.

She stopped for a moment, seeming to deliberate on whether or not she should continue.

'Please no. Come on, you don't want to talk right now. It's getting pretty hard to keep coming up with good excuses for whenever you want to talk about this shit.'

She saw something on his face that made her stop as she opened her mouth again, and shook her head.

"Never mind."

Pietro put a quizzical look on his face, followed by a concerned one after what he thought was an acceptable amount of time. "Alright. Hey, I'm always here for you if you need anything."

"Sure." She responded curtly, before turning and walking back to the dormitory.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance was the only other one in the room when she walked in. She considered leaving, since she wanted to be left alone, but decided that he wouldn't bother her too much, especially if he knew what was good for him. She moved to her bed to sulk in her own thoughts, but couldn't help but be distracted by her roommates actions.

As she watched he continually mumbled to himself, and alternated between sitting on his bed facing away from her and walking around in the small space between bunks. He walked as if agitated, and would stop every now and then to place both hands on his head as if he had yet another headache.

He would suddenly go rigid as his muscles tensed up tightly before continuing his pattern of walking or sitting, always mumbling. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but presumed it involved...well, she didn't know. Back at the brotherhood house he mumbled to himself a lot up in his room. The others had told her to simply leave him alone when he did so, so she did.

Without any warning he suddenly spun and slammed a fist into the steel wall next to him. The sound jolted her out of her thoughts, and she realized she had been staring at him. He turned towards her, with a dark scowl on his face that made him positively ugly, before marching out of the room.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N:** Well, since I fail at making regular updates, I simply have to ask that you all bear with me while I continue sucking. Now, as for this chapter and the last. Last chapter consisted of what actually happened in the base when Lance and Amara were there, and Lance's story left out a lot of parts and was pretty much a bland summary, which would have been boring to write, and would have denied all of you guys a partial action scene.

Now as for this chapter, Apocalypse is back! However, he won't be doing much for a while, but it's important that we know he is back even if the characters don't. What actually happened in the Eye of Ages is that he was stuck traveling through time for about a thousand years or so before he managed to reprogram the machine while it was spinning and use his powers to get it to stop, coincidentally at the only landing zone left for it in this time zone, at exactly the time he left. We'll all have to blame Wolverine and Rogue for not making him stay gone for more than a second or two, but that's another story for another day.

Not too much happening in this chapter, and not much action in the next either, but it should pick up in a few once the Brotherhood finally gets settled in and is ready to perform missions. Once again, thanks for reading, and I'm always open to constructive criticism. Catch you all later.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 15**

The Brotherhood of Mutants stood at attention. Magneto paced in front of them, inspecting them all. He said no words, preferring to use silence as his tool to intimidate his men. After several minutes of making them wait, he finally spoke.

"I founded this Brotherhood to ensure that mutant kind would not be persecuted by humanity. Our mission," He paused, "is to guarantee that our people will not be oppressed by the_barbarians_ that call themselves humans. So far, we have not succeeded in this task."

"In three days you will all go on your first mission as the Brotherhood of Mutants."

Todd, Wanda, and Fred seemed surprised, but quickly tried to hide it. Pietro and Lance each looked like the perfect soldier – unflinching, alert, and ready for anything asked of them. Remy and John, both present, stood behind the line of younger mutants, at ease. Mastermind wasn't at the meeting, since his skills were not needed.

"There is a factory in northern Canada creating Sentinels. Your mission is to completely destroy it. It needs to be rendered completely useless, and there can be nothing left to salvage. This is your initiation into the Brotherhood. Succeed, and you remain with us. Fail, and you will no longer be with this team." Magneto ignored the looks of surprise on everyone's face as he continued. "Our intelligence on this facility is nearly nonexistent. We were lucky to even discover this facility's existence. Therefore, Remy, you will infiltrate it prior to our attack. I want any information on locations of other factories you can find, who is in charge of them, when they were created, how they find employees, anything. This information is of utmost importance. Once you give the all clear signal, Avalanche and Pyro will commence with the destruction of the facility while Wanda, Toad, Quicksilver, and Blob handle any retaliatory attacks by the humans. Once the entire facility – all the buildings – are leveled, we will evacuate."

"Dismissed. Remy, come with me."

Magneto and Remy walked away from the rest of the mutants, who stood together, looking stupefied.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Two metal spheres landed silently in a forest. They opened up quickly, and Magneto and Gambit each stepped out into the night air.

"It's five miles north of here. I wanted to be certain that we landed outside of any patrols." Magneto stated. Remy nodded, before he began picking a path through the forest northwards, leaving Magneto and the orbs behind.

He had dressed in gear that seemed appropriate for his scouting mission. Dark camouflage, designed to work in most woodland environments. He had night vision goggles, binoculars, a camera, a compass, and most importantly, several decks of cards as well as his staff. While moving alone through the Canadian wilderness was unwise at the best of times, Remy casually ignored most safety precautions, and assumed that his skills would be more than enough to investigate the factory and return to Magneto without any difficulties.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Magneto had waited nearly eight hours when Remy finally returned, looking glum.

"Well?" He asked, trying to hide his anger at waiting for so long.

"Dat place is locked down tight mon ami. I couldn't find a way to even get close. They have sensors all over the place, in addition to guards."

Magneto growled before forcing himself to calm down. "So you don't have any idea about how to get in."

"No. The guards switch shifts in groups, so we can't disguise ourselves as them and switch one of our men in for them. Plus, it looks like they have plenty of motion sensors and I'm willing to bet pressure sensors on the roof as well."

"We'll think of something. Let's go."

They both got their spheres and left as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Pietro was bored. His father and Remy had both been gone since last night, no doubt on some secret mission that he, Quicksilver, was not needed for. Mastermind was hiding around the base somewhere it seemed, and even if he hadn't been, Pietro wouldn't have considered doing anything with him. Lance and Wanda both were in the dormitory, acting antisocial yet _again._ They had both been doing that much more in the past week or so. Pyro was nowhere to be found as well. Pietro suspected that him and Mastermind had snuck out of the base together. Magneto had made Fred move some large crates from one storage room to another, and that was taking the larger mutant all day long to do. And Todd...well Pietro was pretty sure that he was sneaking around in the base's ventilation ducts, although he wasn't sure why.

So, he was by himself in the rec room, idly clicking channels and trying to think of the words for a proposal to his father concerning recruiting more female members to the Brotherhood.

There was a clunk in the ceiling above his head followed by a muffled grunt.

"Toad! Get out of the air vents. You're just going to get stuck!" He yelled out, not even moving his head as he continued watching the television.

A few more clunks alerted him to Todd's position, before the grating on the wall was kicked out and Todd dropped into the room, covered in dust. Pietro grunted a greeting, not even bother to look at the younger mutant.

"Hey, what's on TV?" Todd asked, trying to wipe some of the dust off himself before he sat down.

"Nothing."

"Oh."

The two sat for a while, watching the channels change, before Pietro finally had to ask.

"What were you doing in there anyway?"

"Practicing my stealth skills, man." Todd replied, with a cheesy grin on his face.

"Sorry to say, but you were making more noise than Fred would doing jumping jacks."

"It's a work in progress yo. Besides what else am I gonna do?"

Pietro didn't have a response.

"Plus, I might find some secret room or something, or maybe a super secret stash of Magneto's. That'd be pretty cool wouldn't it?" Todd asked, somewhat hopefully. Luckily, Pietro perked up at his words.

"Yeah, that would be pretty cool." He stood up and walked over to the vent. "So, you coming or not?"

Todd let Pietro climb in the duct before he jumped in without so much as grazing the sides. He then shot his tongue out, grabbed the grate with it, and pulled it into place before crawling after Pietro.

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"Today is the day of our first mission as a united brotherhood. I'm sure you all understand how important this is for us then. Now, we've all gone over each individual's portion of this mission. However, it is important that we all understand both our parts and each other's," Magneto stated haughtily from his position in front of the Brotherhood of Mutants, who were all lined up in the hanger.

"Lance and Wanda will cause a distraction that will allow Toad and Gambit to slip past the guards unnoticed. Once inside, they will be tasked with finding any information they can about other factories producing sentinels, the sentinel plans themselves, and the names of those in charge of this new sentinel program." Magneto looked at the mutants in front of him, seeing that there seemed to be no questions so far. He ignored the crushed look on Pietro's face as well as the venomous look he gave to Lance.

"Once they get out of the base they will give us the signal to proceed. At that point, Lance and Pyro will be chief forces in creating the destruction of the buildings. Wanda, Quicksilver, and Blob will be ready for any counterattacks by the humans, and assist in the demolition as they deem appropriate. Mastermind will aid Toad and Gambit if needed as they make their way out of the facility they are in. Once they return, they'll turn in any information they find and then will continue to both protect Avalanche and Pyro, as well as aid in the destruction."

He turned and led them all into individual spheres. Once they all had entered, the spheres shut, the roof opened above them, and they ascended.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N: **Sorry about the lack of updates, but for some reason I wasn't able to upload any documents for a week or so. I have the next chapter already completed while I was waiting for this one to go up, so there will be another chapter this weekend.This one is kind of small since there really wasn't any other place that felt right to end the chapter, and going on would have made it much too long. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'm always open to constructive criticism! Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 16**

Lance looked out the driver's side window of the stolen car he was in. The sky was darkening, and the sun would finish setting in several minutes. The factory had only a gravel road that led to the entrance, and that road had a gate preventing just anybody from entering onto it from the main highway. However, he and Wanda were both in a car that was driving slowly along it, having bypassed the gate entirely, thanks to Magneto.

Two teenagers that had gone off the main road wouldn't be too out of the ordinary, but two teenagers that managed to get past security would hopefully be enough to get the attention of several guards, providing an opening that Gambit and Toad would exploit to get into the factory.

So now Lance was waiting for a phone call from Pietro, who was hiding in the forest that grew close on either side of the road. The call would signal that a guard was coming to investigate, and that his part would begin soon.

He looked over at Wanda. She was laying back in her seat in the most languid way possible, idly looking out her window. Every now and then she would glance over at him, but look away before he could ever catch her eye. Lance wondered if she was as nervous about their first mission as he was. She didn't look like to be.

There were far too many curves on the drive he was on to see the compound itself. He bypassed one and scanned the trees closely, hoping to see the glint of a camera, or sensor, or anything that would alert security that there was an unauthorized vehicle on the path to the factory.

"There." Wanda said suddenly, making sure not to look directly at the object she noticed. Lance started, but calmed himself quickly and casually looked in the direction she was facing. He didn't see anything.

"Sure?" He asked, an uncertain tone in his voice.

"Yeah."

He pulled the vehicle over to a side of the road and parked it, just barely in view of the camera. If Magneto was right, then a guard would show up to investigate and Lance and Wanda would be disruptive enough for backup to be called.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Gambit was with Toad hiding as close as he thought they could get to the base without being noticed. He hadn't noticed any patrols around the facility the other night, so he was closer than he had been then, but he and Toad were still a good two hundred feet away from the forest's edge. From the edge there was approximately fifty feet of cleared ground before a barbed wire fence guarded the way into the lands of the factory itself. The nearest building past the fence was only twenty feet away from it, which created a narrow alley in between it and the fence that guards walked down.

He and Toad would run from the trees, scale the fence, and Toad would then leap to the side of the building and attach a line for Remy to swing to the side without setting off any of the motion sensors that watched the alley whenever the guards weren't patrolling it. They would then both climb into a window and use their best judgment to find some sort of master computer and get any information from it that they could. Then, they would make their way back out, hopefully unnoticed.

Gambit seriously doubted that they would be unnoticed the entire time. Even with the cover of darkness there were enough lights hanging from the eaves of the various buildings and on the fence for them to be easily seen.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance's phone rang once, then went silent. He jolted up and looked at Wanda, who also seemed to be gathering herself together.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Almost." She said, before leaning over to ruffle up his hair and then partially undid one of the ties on her shirt. "There. Now we look the part." She finished with a smile that bordered on a smirk.

Lance couldn't help but grin at the implications of the action.

There were several short hard raps on Lance's window. Outside, a warmly dressed guard with a round face beckoned for him to step out of the car.

The brown haired mutant looked over at his companion before letting his face break into a smirk. "Time to act like the rowdy teens he expects us to be."

He stepped out of the car in the most cocky way possible, before marching up to the guard. Wanda just rolled her eyes, before stepping out as well and following suit, silently hoping that they could get either inside the factory or back in the car before she froze to death.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Hey look! Some of them are leaving." Toad said enthusiastically, in a barely hushed voice.

"Shh! If I have to tell you to be quiet one more time..." Gambit responded, letting the threat speak for itself. He turned away from Toad and back towards the compound. The men patrolling had all gathered at the front of the base. Several of them – Remy thought four, but couldn't be certain – had gathered into a small cart and drove down the road. The others shut the gate in the fence, before waiting nearby. It was a show of poor discipline, but considering how boring and cold it would have been to patrol a factory every night in the middle of nowhere, Remy couldn't blame them.

"Alright, let's go!" He sprinted out from the forests edge and quickly made it to the fence, which he rapidly climbed. He placed his staff in between himself and the barbed wire at the top, and in an incredible display of both strength and agility, flipped around the overhanging wire and onto the other side of the fence, where he caught himself from falling. Toad had simply leaped onto the top of the fence, where he grasped tightly, narrowly avoiding the wires. Gambit handed him a cord that hooked into his staff, along with the mechanical grapple that he would stick to the wall.

Toad didn't give Gambit any warning before he leaped to the side of the building. The older mutant had to catch himself from falling, as the force of Toad's legs left the fence shaking dangerously. He glared at Toad who had already attached the line and was waiting on him.

Remy had his doubts, but time wasn't a luxury he had, so he held his staff tightly and pushed off the fence. As he fell he curled himself into the smallest amount of space he could, in order to be certain that he would be above the range of the low-lying sensors on the ground below. His legs hit the brick wall first and he eased himself up the side slowly as he climbed up the cord.

He looked back to make certain that he hadn't been noticed. Nobody was in view, and he was reasonably certain that no cameras or motion sensors had been activated. He pulled out a small hand held glass cutter and went to work on one of the windows in front of him.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

One hour later

Remy cursed for the fiftieth time that night. 'Break in and find any information. Get the files from the computer. Don't get noticed or set off any alarms. And OH YEAH TAKE TOAD WITH YOU! I don't think Mags has the slightest clue on how hard infiltration really is. Sure, we got inside one building. But, were there any computers in it at all? No! Were there any sentinels in it? No! Was there anything in it except for a bunch of crates and a bored guard? No! And I swear, if this next building doesn't have a damn computer I'm just going to blow something up and screw the whole plan.'

He hung on the side of building A3, which was yet another storehouse of some sort, while Toad made the jump to building B1, in a sequence that had already been done three other times that night. Remy admitted that Toad had potential, but at the moment he was far too green to be of much use. He had done nothing that Remy couldn't have done himself, and so far had only slowed the Cajun down.

B1 wasn't in the same row that the three A buildings were. In addition, it didn't have the same appearance either. Instead of brick, it had steel siding, and Remy hoped, something in it other than damn boxes.

Toad gave the go ahead and Remy quickly swung across the alley in between A3 and B1. It was significantly wider than the alleys between A buildings, but was still narrow enough not to be a problem for the experienced thief.

He climbed up to yet another rectangular window that was just high enough for him to squeeze through when it had been removed. He tried to peer through it, but was only able to see a small portion of an interior hallway. At least it was different than the other buildings, which only had small catwalks and rafters above the crates below. He quickly taped over the window and signaled Toad to stop it from falling. Once Toad had gripped it Remy bashed the window in. The tape stopped the pieces from falling away from each other and Toad quickly cleared out the edges of the pane that hadn't broken off before squirming inside. Remy followed, slightly slower due to his larger build. Cutting the first window out had taken forever, and since the facility was likely to be demolished by morning anyway, Remy felt that he could speed up his infiltration process by simply breaking in, rather than being certain that he left no sign of his presence.

He dropped to the darkened hallway inside B1. The floor was made of steel, while the walls appeared to be drywall, which struck the mutant as odd. Everything else in the compound had been strictly utilitarian. Remy had already checked for cameras before he crawled through the window, and berated himself for letting Toad go in before he thought to check. None were in sight, so he decided to go left, further into the building, and tried to find a place for Toad to stash the window that he held in his hand.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance and Wanda both sat in hard chairs in a small office, Lance sporting an icepack over his left eye. Across from them stood the security officer that had been on duty when they had been found. He had had them brought to his office in order to question them, but as of yet had only grown frustrated as the two teens refused to answer any of his questions.

He had stopped speaking several minutes ago and the room had been silent since. He sighed and spoke again when it became obvious that neither of the two teens would crack if they were made to wait.

"Alright, lets start over. Would that work?" He asked pleasantly, his hands open and inviting.

The brown haired teen scowled, while the dark girl simply looked at some spot on the wall behind him.

"You don't need to tell me your names, and you won't get in any trouble. Just answer a few questions, and we can let you go and pretend this never happened." The officer said, placatingly.

He tried another approach, as he saw he was getting no response. "Is your arm okay?' He asked, pointing to Lance's left arm, which was still bandaged. The guards had brought him down when one of them grabbed it hard, and the pain overcame him. "Do you need some painkillers for it?"

Still no response.

"Fine. Then you're both just going to stay here until you decide to talk." He turned to leave the room.

"You can't keep us here." Wanda said smugly.

The guard looked back at her. "As far as anybody knows, you aren't here. So yes, I can. If you don't want to talk, then you can both wait here till morning when one of the managers comes in. If you feel like talking, just knock on the door. Someone will come." He stepped out of the room before shutting the heavy wooden door. A small click came from it as it locked.

"Ooh, he locked the door on us. Idiot. We're on the inside." Lance said, referring to the fact that he could simply unlock the door and step out.

Wanda and he both heard the sound of something being dragged before a heavy thud came from the other side of the door, indicating something was resting on it.

"You were saying?" Wanda asked smugly.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Whoa. A secret passage. Cool man." Toad said. He and Remy had found a panel that raised up from the floor near the normal entrance to B1. Underneath it were metal stairs leading downward into darkness. No sounds could be heard coming from the pathway below.

"Bout time we found something useful. Let's head down." Gambit said, creeping slowly and quietly down the stairs, making only the slightest of noise.

B1 had been a sort of office building. Most of its space was unused, but the left half when facing from the front had plenty of small storage rooms in it, and several that appeared to be offices. Unfortunately, none of the ancient computers in the rooms had any useful information at all. In fact, most of them didn't have _anything_ on them, which only served to irritate the two mutants who had doggedly searched for any data that pertained to sentinels. They had walked through the empty right half of the facility searching for an adequate place to sneak out and make their way to what Gambit assumed was B2, a building that looked much like B1. Near the front truck entrance however, Gambit had heard a hollow echo as he walked over one of the numerous large metal plates that made up the floor. He had quickly lifted it up and found the stairs.

As he was nearly halfway down the stairs he froze. Directly at the bottom, staring up at him was a soldier. Dressed head to toe in a black combat suit, and carrying a black submachine gun that Remy couldn't identify, he appeared to be the complete opposite of the guards that patrolled above, clad only in cheap security uniforms.

In a stroke of luck, the man appeared to be as surprised to see Remy as Remy was to see him. As the man reached up one hand to a headset Remy launched into action. He leaped the last ten feet down the stairs, pulling his staff out and extending it in midair. Before his feet touched the ground he had already spun the weapon in a ferocious arc around him, slamming it hard into the soldier's skull.

_THWAK!_

The sound of the staff hitting covered Remy's hard landing. The soldier lay crumpled on the floor beside him. Remy quickly scanned around and froze again.

He was standing at one end of a wide metal walkway that crossed the center of a massive dark room. It intersected with two other walkways that ran perpendicular to it and connected the walkway to steel walls. Stairs attached to those walkways lead to the floor below.

Said floor was set up as a massive assembly line for sentinels. Along the far wall – the side opposite Remy – stood several rows of sentinels, there dark forms creating long shadows on the floor below due to the low light seeping out of a closed door that led to the walkway at his level.

None of that was of particular importance to Remy at the moment, other than the sentinels, for he had seen several other soldiers at various points patrolling the walkways. In addition, at the ceiling were numerous cameras, each angled so that there was no spot of the room that wasn't being observed. The small lights near them provided illumination, and cast dark shadows throughout.

Nobody had seen him yet. The nearest guard was at the intersection between the main walkway and the first side one, some seventy feet away, and he hadn't heard the sound of his fellow guard being knocked out. Remy began to execute a quick but silent retreat back up the stairs before he could be seen.

As he ran up them he collided with Toad, who had begun making his way down.

The younger mutant let out a loud cry, and managed to avoid Gambit's attempts to grab him as he fell.

His clattering down the stairs drew the attention of several of the guards.

Seconds after they all began running towards him, Remy grabbed Todd and dragged him up the stairs, throwing a large handful of charged cards behind him.

The use of his powers however, caused every one of the sentinels at the other end of the factory to light up and turn on.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N **I don't actually like this chapter that much. Something about it just feels...off. It's gone through several revisions already, but I still don't know if I like it that much. Nevertheless, it's as done as it can be without me remaking the entire chapter...and this one does do everything that I wanted it to do, so there isn't any real reason to start over... Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always, constructive criticism is welcome.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 17**

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Wanda asked, pacing around the small room she and Lance were in.

"Well, from what I understand, we should get out of this room and try to help Remy and Toad somehow. Either that or take off and meet up with everyone outside. Magneto wasn't too clear on what we were supposed to do once we distracted the guards." Lance replied slowly, trying to recall his part of the plan.

Wanda looked back at him contemptuously. "I really doubt that we'll just be allowed to walk away. We'll probably be escorted to the road where mounties will pick us up."

"Mounties?" Lance questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Or police, or whatever they have up here." She said, looking away.

"You notice that security guy didn't have a Canadian accent?"

"Yeah. I doubt he's actually an officer or anything here. Probably doesn't even know the language."

"They speak English in Canada." Lance replied dryly.

Wanda glared at him for a moment before turning back to the door, trying to peer through the crack on the bottom to see what was blocking it.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"_Shitshitshitshitshitshit_."Gambit's rapid stream of curses did nothing to bolster Toad's confidence. The Cajun switched languages every few seconds, but it was very clear that he was swearing.

They had sprinted up the stairs as fast as mutantly possible. Gambit slammed the lid back onto the stairs and quickly charged it, before dragging Toad with him to the office half of the building.

Toad pulled free from the older mutant's grip and began leaping alongside him as the older mutant frantically ran his hands through his coat pockets and began pulling out decks of cards and unwrapping them.

There was an explosion behind them and they quickly turned a corner and ran down the long hallway that they had first entered. Shouts rang through the air and the sound of heavy feet crashing against the floor made them aware of the soldiers not far behind.

They reached the window they had entered by, and before Gambit could protest, Toad had grabbed him and jumped both of them up and next to it, which Gambit then quickly slid through. Toad quickly followed as the men behind them began charging down the hall. He leaped to the ground below, where he saw Gambit getting up from a hard landing. The other mutant grabbed a pack of cards, opened one end, charged it, and then threw the pack through the open window, spraying charged cards everywhere. The wall of the building shook violently, but held up from the explosions inside of it, which drowned out the cries from the soldiers inside.

They both began running between the buildings of the compound, setting off dozens of motion detectors and subsequent alarms, all while trying to make it to the fence so they could get away.

They turned one corner to see three of the security guards blocking their way, guns drawn and pointed at them. Toad, in the blind panic he was in, quickly turned to flee, but ran into Gambit, knocking them both over.

"Stop right there! Try anything and - " The guards orders were cut off as Remy rolled along the ground, grabbed a handful of cards and rising up into a kneeling position, launched the charged explosives. They went off less than a second later, right in front of the men barring their path. He grabbed Toad and drug him behind him as the younger mutant began to wail in terror.

Several moments later Remy turned the last corner and could see the fence. It was less than thirty yards away, but there was no cover to be had for most of the run. He sprinted as fast as he could, adrenaline fueling his flight. He didn't even notice the weight of Toad and carried him with one arm easily. Running towards the fence he saw several carts full of guards rush to cut him off.

Just as he thought he would make it to the fence he slipped on some loose gravel and fell to the asphalt below.

He stopped moving and slowly looked up, expecting to see numerous guns pointed at his face. Instead he saw the carts drive past him, the guards yelling at someone to stop.

Remy quickly took advantage of the situation and blasted a hole in the fence with a single card before running for the forest. As he approached he saw someone wave for him and made his way towards the figure. He vaulted over a downed limb and found himself face to face with Mastermind and Quicksilver.

"What happened?" Quicksilver demanded.

"Tell you later, right now we have to run!" Gambit retorted harshly.

Mastermind turned and ran before Gambit followed, still dragging Toad, whose wails had turned into pitiful snivels. After a brief moment Quicksilver turned and ran ahead of them, leading the way.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The shrieking of an alarm jolted both Lance and Wanda from where they had been sitting. They both looked at each other.

"Guess that's the signal for us to get started." Lance said, a surprised look on his face. "Remember, you keep the guards busy, while I bring this place down."

"I'll take care of it." Wanda replied quickly, before turning towards the door and launching a hex bolt at it, sending the door flying open. It turned out that a crate had been blocking the door. Wanda's hex bolt made it explode, and drew the attention of nearly two dozen guards, each covered in black and carrying a submachine gun with a ridiculously long clip. They all stopped their running and stared at the two teenagers as they stood in the doorway of the office.

Wanda blinked as her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness of the room before her. She made out the soldiers as they all began to raise their weapons, their eyes focused on her hand, which still had a blue glow emanating from it.

"Oh."

She didn't have time to say anything else before she felt herself being hurled back into the office.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"**Where are Wanda and Avalanche?!!"** Magneto's roar was enough to intimidate even the Juggernaut.

"I don't know. I thought they were with you guys! I swear it monsieur!" Remy backed into a tree, as he held his hands in front of him placatingly.

The Brotherhood, minus Wanda and Lance, were all gathered in the forest, nearly a mile from the compound.

"You set off every alarm there and you just LEAVE THEM!!" Magneto, shaking with rage now, began to slowly approach Remy. "If **_anything_** happens to them, then it will be **your **head." He grabbed Remy's coat collar and pulled him close enough that the Cajun's forehead was pressed up against his helmet. "Understand?"

Remy nodded. "Oui." Remy understood well enough. Magneto was even crazier than he had thought, and Remy didn't plan on working for him a second longer than necessary. And, if the two younger mutants did end up being hurt or anything, then he was going to quickly and quietly disappear into the forest before anybody noticed.

Magneto turned from Remy back to the rest of the mutants assembled, who all took a step back from him. "Quicksilver, go." Pietro nodded and left before the rest of the mutants had even processed the order. 'The rest of you, get into the compound and continue your mission. Find the two of them before you start anything though." He spun back to Remy. "Go with them. And all of you make it quick. If those Sentinels come online, then we'll all have our hands full."

Toad hadn't moved from his position on the forest floor, where Remy had dropped him when they arrived.

"Toad. Quit your sniveling and get up! Now!"

The younger mutant looked up at Magneto, tears filling his eye. He slowly raised his right leg, and pointed to a bloody hole in the thigh. Magneto didn't show any response, other than turning towards Gambit and giving him an even grimmer look.

"Stay here Toad."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance had reacted before he even knew what he had done. His left arm snapped out and he grabbed Wanda's right shoulder with a grip of steel before jerking the same arm back and throwing her into the room. Just as quickly he slammed the door shut and locked it with his right before anybody knew what had happened.

"Ow." Wanda moaned, standing up and rubbing her lower back where it had impacted the desk he had thrown her into. "Thanks, " she said slowly, wincing at the pain.

Wanda's thanks were so rarely given Lance was stunned for a moment, completely forgetting about the situation on the other side of the door. "Uh. No problem."

The sound of heavy pounding on the door snapped them back into an awareness of what was going on.

"Okay, let's get out of here. I'm making a door." Lance said angrily. He walked to the back of the office and began shaking the wall. After a few seconds large fissures ran through it, and several more after that the wall collapsed, revealing a way out of the building and into the center of the compound.

Lance took a step outside. Before he could continue Wanda suddenly grabbed him and threw him backwards, causing him to slam into the very desk he just threw her into. As he looked a giant steel claw smashed into the pavement right where he had been. The sentinel that had tried to drop onto him looked up from its claw, and focused on both of them.

Behind the two mutants there was an explosion, and the door finally shattered, allowing the soldiers to enter the small office.

Lance looked back at the soldiers, then forward, to the sentinel, then back once again, before finally turning and settling on Wanda.

"This is just fucking stupid."

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N: **Not much to say here. The first mission is heating up, and quickly going horribly wrong. Lance and Wanda are alone in the middle of a group of armed soldiers and a Sentinel, and Toad has been shot in the leg. Next chapter continues right from where this one left off, since I was cruel and left a cliffhanger. As always, thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 18**

Quicksilver was fast. Extremely fast. Everybody knew it, but that didn't mean people understood it. They didn't understand just how fast he was. What's more, they didn't understand just what that kind of speed could do.

For the most part that was because Quicksilver didn't show them. He rarely used his speed to its fullest, ever. He simply didn't need too. In addition, despite appearances, he had a lot of self-control. Probably more than anyone else on the planet.. When you live fifty times faster than everyone else, being able to interact in any way demonstrates an incredible amount of patience when listening to anyone else speak or do anything. The self control shows when slamming a door shut slow enough that it doesn't shatter while actively running at three hundred miles an hour.

None of his self control or patience mattered right now. All that mattered was his speed. His sister and best friend were alone in an extremely hostile enemy compound and would likely need back-up immediately.

All the things he normally considered when he ran – not going too fast and tearing up the pavement below him, not creating a slipstream strong enough to pull cars and even trucks after him, let alone the panes out of windows and saplings planted in the park. It meant watching out and running around everything in his path making sure not to so much as touch anything other than the air. Touching something meant that it would likely be struck so hard it would rip loose of everything attached to it and go flying a few hundred yards before shattering into a thousand pieces in public.

Yes, he always had to worry about not using the full extent of his powers.

Until now.

A hurricane tore through the forest surrounding the sentinel manufacturing plant. Bushes, dirt, stones, saplings, leaves and even dead trees were swept into it. Quicksilver pointedly ignored everything in his path. Anything that was in his way was simply knocked out of his way and into oblivion from a combination of the mutant's speed and natural strength.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Get down! On the ground NOW!"

"Try anything and we fire!"

"Get DOWN!!"

"Move and I shoot mutie scum!"

The cacophonous shouts of the soldiers made it impossible to understand any one of them. Lance and Wanda had both frozen where they were, making certain not to surprise any trigger happy guards. Unfortunately, not moving wasn't enough for the sentinel, which pointed its right arm at them in a decidedly hostile motion.

"Wanda?" Lance asked.

"Yeah?"

"Any ideas?"

"No."

"Okay, just remember that when you complain about this later if we survive."

Before Wanda could ask him what he was doing Avalanche shot both arms up above his head in one rapid motion. On both sides of the mutants a wall of earth shot out of the ground and into the ceiling of the room they were in. A deafening amount of gunfire suddenly erupted on the other side of one of the walls. As Wanda spun to see the other wall protecting them from the sentinel Avalanche shot both hands down below him and ducked into a squatting position. He grunted and the ground below them shook before he let out a pained cry and swung both arms above himself and outwards. More earth and stone rose out of the ground and the walls flung themselves away from the two mutants giving the appearance of massive waves of earth.

Then the earth rolling towards the sentinel briefly glowed red and exploded back towards them, revealing the massive robot.

Lance shuddered for a moment, before falling over.

The floor below Wanda continued shaking.

The sentinel took a moment to point one of the guns on its right arm at her.

Her hands glowed an unnatural blue.

The sentinel fired.

Wanda launched the hex bolt.

The floor gave out and both mutants fell downwards, into the heart of the factory.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Gambit reluctantly lead the Brotherhood back towards the compound he had just fled. He could still hear alarms going off and knew that the group wouldn't be able to get into the compound without being spotted. That meant that it would be a straight up slugging match between the soldiers and the mutants, and Gambit didn't like the odds one bit. Not to mention that with Avalanche, Toad, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch absent he had a significantly weaker force that he had to use to find and rescue Avalanche and Wanda.

'I wish Sabertooth was here. Damn, never thought I would actually want him around. Shit, this is bad.'

At the present he was still leading Pyro, Blob, and Mastermind through the forest at a swift jog, trying to figure out some sort of battle plan. Unfortunately neither Blob nor Pyro were much for subtlety and stealth, and he doubted Mastermind's combat prowess. Hopefully Quicksilver would find the others and lead them to meet up with him, since otherwise he didn't have a clue as to how go about doing this.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Quicksilver found out that the sentinels the factory was supposedly making were functional and in use right away. As soon as he cleared the forest he was able to see their dark forms walking among the various buildings hunting for any mutant intruders. He couldn't do anything about them right then so it was best to simply carry on and try to find Wanda and Lance as fast as possible.

He rapidly ran down the alleys made by the buildings, avoiding the sentinels when he could and simply flying by them when he couldn't. Several guards were running around as well but he moved far to fast for to recognize him as a mutant and not simply a gust of wind. He turned another corner and went examined another row of buildings, trying to control his growing sense of anticipation at not finding Lance and Wanda yet.

'_F4,F3,F2,F1. Still nothing. Where are they?!'_

He turned to another row and saw a sentinel bathed in a blue glow peering through a hole in the side of a large brick building labeled D1. Tearing up the pavement below him he shot to the hole and ran through the legs of the metal behemoth in time to see the floor in front of him begin to fall, taking a prone Lance and furious Wanda with it.

They fell in slow motion for the speedster, who reacted without pausing to consider his actions. He dashed forward on a pile of rubble and leaped as it began to give way along with the floor. His course put him right between his sister and Lance, and in midair he reached out his arms and grabbed both of them, before landing on a torn up dirt wall on the other side of the hole. Before gravity could begin to pull him downwards, and before his sister knew what was happening, he dashed upwards several steps before launching himself and the two mutants he was carrying back across the hole in the floor, landing directly underneath the sentinel.

"Oof!" Wanda let out a grunt as she had the air knocked out of her. Looking around she saw herself underneath the sentinel, with her brother looking at her anxiously. Lance began to get up slowly on the other side Pietro.

"Sis! Are you okay?" Pietro asked rapidly, ignoring the killing machine directly above the three of them.

Wanda gasped out a "Yes" as the sentinel took a step backwards and looked down upon them, finding its targets. She blasted it with a hex bolt, hoping to cause it to shut down. However, the blue energy simply washed over it, causing no noticeable effect.

"Then let's get out of here!" Pietro cried, and before Wanda could protest he had picked her up again in a rough hold around her stomach and half drug half carried Lance behind him.

Lance was about to pull his arm out of Pietro's grip but quickly changed his mind when plasma shots began impacting dangerously close to him. He resolved to simply put up with having his arm nearly torn out of his socket and did his best to keep his balance as Pietro pulled him along.

Suddenly, somehow, the world went silent and spun around Lance. He felt as though he were in a free fall, before everything stopped spinning and slowly swayed back and forth for what felt like forever. Everything shifted back and forth several times before he realized someone was shaking him. He slowly got up, suddenly feeling his body again, and saw that he was laying on his back on the pavement of the factory in a darkened alley between two buildings. He looked over and saw Wanda getting up from her knees beside him.

"We have to help him!" She shouted frantically. The tone of her voice made no sense to Lance. Wasn't he just dreaming?

"What?"

"Pietro! He got shot. Look at him!"

Suddenly everything clicked into place and Lance realized where he was and what he was doing. He looked around and saw Pietro laying several feet away from him, unconscious, with his right leg blackened from the knee down. His boot was miraculously intact, but smoking. A portion of his uniform from the knee up was burnt away and Lance could see blackened skin before he turned away.

"Fuck!" Lance spun as he heard Wanda curse at the sight of a sentinel around one hundred yards away march towards them.

"Fuck." His mind raced as he tried to think of a way out of the situation they were in.

Lance truly did have an innate knowledge of tactics equal to Scott Summers, which was one of the reasons he had been the leader of the Brotherhood under Mystique. He didn't always use his brain, but when he did he could come up with truly ingenious tricks on a battlefield.

Now though, perhaps because there were no alternatives, or possibly due to the stress of the situation, mixed with a likely concussion the only thing he could think of was to blast the machine with both his and Wanda's powers and try to disable it. But first-

"Fire a hex bolt into the air. Let the others know where we are." He commanded, his voice shifting into "leader" mode. Wanda did so and turned towards the sentinel.

"Alright. I'm going to bring down the buildings on both sides down onto it. When I tell you to, blast it as hard as you can. Aim for the head. Try to knock out its eyes.

The sentinel continued advancing, seeing no immediate threat and therefore not bothering to bring any of its weapons to bear on the two teens.

The ground began to shake slightly and the sentinel responded instantaneously, shifting each of its hands into weapons and opening its chest, which began to glow.

"Now!"

Wanda let out a massive hex bolt, sending it perfectly into the face of the machine. At the same moment the walls on both sides of the thing crashed down while the ground rocked several times, causing it to fall backwards.

Avalanche didn't spend any time watching the results of his work, using the time to pick up Pietro and begin running. "Come on!"

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N:** Hey all. Sorry for the lack of updates. Life's just been in the way recently. However, know that I will not abandon this fic until it's done, no matter how long it takes. Thanks for reading, and as always, constructive criticism is very welcome. Thanks in advance!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 19**

Wanda was both extremely frightened and extremely impressed. Frightened, because she was running as fast as she could through a crazed militaristic sentinel producing factory being hunted by said sentinels while at the same time avoiding some kind of extreme black ops soldiers running all over the place as well as carts full of security guards. Impressed, because Lance, in Avalanche mode, had successfully led her through the base in the most unpredictable course possible while at the same time carrying her injured brother and knocking down sentinels and guards whenever they were encountered.

Avalanche knocked down a section of the wall in the building they had entered, leading back out into the open compound. Before she ran out, he focused his powers again, emitting a small grunt of pain as he knocked down part of the wall opposite them, allowing them to enter in an unconventional manner that seemed to be working quite well at keeping guards and sentinels off their trail. Unfortunately, it also seemed to be keeping the rest of the Brotherhood from finding them, but since there was no way of knowing whether or not the Brotherhood had even come to find them or whether the mission was aborted or if they had been left behind Wanda didn't worry about it.

They ran through a kitchen, through a cafeteria, and then through a restroom before Avalanche had to knock down another wall. It shook for a moment as fissures and cracks appeared before it finally collapsed. Across the way there was an open door rather than a wall and she grabbed a stumbling Avalanche and lead him through it.

The room they entered looked like a dormitory, and it looked like it had been left quickly. All the beds were unmade, with blankets and sheets thrown all over, various articles of clothing hung about, also thrown every which way, and lots of footlockers were laying open, with their contents missing.

Avalanche made a move to run through, but Wanda grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Let's take a breather." She said breathlessly, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to recover from the excessive sprinting she had done. Lance paused for a moment, before nodding. He walked over to the nearest bed and put Pietro onto it. The white haired mutant was still unconscious, not having moved on his own since Wanda had found him.

The dormitory was warm compared to the outdoors and several of the buildings they had ran through, and Wanda realized that she had been quite cold before entering. She grabbed a blanket from one of the beds and wrapped it around herself. After pausing a minute she put one around Pietro as well. She saw Lance make a grimace of pain from where he stood, leaning against one of the bunks.

"You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Just a headache. That trick with the dirt walls is tough. I've never done two at once before, and using my powers so much is just making it worse. I can handle it though." He stood up straight and picked up Pietro again. "We need to keep moving. If we meet up with the others we can have one of them take Quicksilver to safety while we trash this place."

Wanda stopped walking and stood staring at Lance, stunned.

"How can you even think about that right now? We have to get out of here," she said harshly, her voice raising.

"Didn't you hear what Magneto said? This is our only chance to get into the Brotherhood. Otherwise we go back to being nobodies. It doesn't matter that sentinels are out there or that the guards know we're here now. We still have a mission to complete." He responded, saying the last sentence in his 'Avalanche' voice.

"Father will understand that we had to run. He'll give us a second chance," retorted the younger mutant confidently.

Lance gave her a rueful smile before shaking his head. "No he won't. We knew the conditions before we came. Now we have to adapt." He looked away before continuing. "In fact, we probably shouldn't even be running away. We should be totaling this place." His eyes hardened, and his face went back into the angry scowl that normally graced it. "_Right now."_

"What!? Are you insane? We need to go!"

He scowled at her. "Wanda. Right now the others are probably fighting to find us. You and I are the two most powerful members of this team. They need us to turn this place into rubble if they want to have any chance of holding off all those sentinels. So let's do it." He turned away from her and his body tightened up as he began to focus his powers.

"No. Do what you want. I'll take Pietro and leave without you then." She retorted hotly. Some of the blankets behind her began stirring slowly as her powers began showing themselves.

An angry face – Avalanche – turned back to look at her. "Bring this place down. Now. That's an order." His voice changed abruptly, into the harder tone he used as Avalanche. He faced away again, and began shaking slightly as he absorbed seismic energy into himself.

"Order! You don't have any right to order me. Or have you forgotten that Father said there was no second – in – command any more.?"

"I've been in the 'hood longer. I'm older. And I'm more experienced. I'm in charge." His reply was terse, and carried an air of authority surprising coming from someone so young.

Wanda opened her mouth to protest again. Avalanche seemed to notice this and spun, his eyes white and his body tense and shaking, he stared right into her eyes and seemed to loom over her.

"**Now!**"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Fantastically, sentinels didn't seem to be able to sense mutants through a wall of flames. Gambit led Blob, Pyro, and Mastermind with him into the compound, trying to find Wanda and Avalanche. Blob led the charge, while Pyro lit everything nearby them on fire. Whenever a sentinel approached them, Pyro focused his powers on creating a large flaming orb around their head, which caused them to begin moving randomly, trying to get out of the fire, while Gambit would run up to them, climb upwards to the chest and begin placing charged explosives into any openings he could find. Then, he'd drop down, give the all clear to the others, and the sentinel would explode from the inside out. Twice, the metal monoliths had still remained active afterwards, and attempted to stop them, but Gambit managed to blow the head off of one with nearly a full deck of cards, and Pyro had immersed the other's head in flames, which caused it to crash into a nearby building, where it finally shut down.

A group of several soldiers ran around the corner of a building behind the group - on the opposite side of Blob - and quickly pointed their weapons at the mutants.

"Nobody move! Drop your weapons and surrender mutants!" One of the soldiers ordered. Gambit wasn't able to tell which, since all of them looked alike, and their mouths were covered. A sentinel dropped from the sky and landed on the ground behind the soldiers, staring at the mutants ominously.

Gambit looked back to Blob, who was too far away to get in between the soldiers and the rest of the mutants before they would fire. Pyro had raised his hands, but still had his flamethrowers ready to go, and was looking at Gambit for instructions.

Gambit looked over at Mastermind and saw the older mutant's eyes glowing blue.

Suddenly several of the darkly clad soldiers shouted in surprise, before turning backwards and opening fire on the Sentinel. The others looked back as well, and quickly followed suit.

The sentinel knew that the soldiers were supposed to be allies, but seeing them in between itself and the mutants, as well as firing at it in a hostile manner was enough for it to reclassify the humans as enemies. It pointed its right arm towards them and unleashed a salvo of plasma, enveloping the men.

"Light him up Pyro!" Gambit shouted immediately after the soldiers had been blasted and the sentinel had changed its focus away from the mutants. The Australian eagerly complied, cackling as a flaming bird flew from his flamethrowers up to the sentinel's head, where it wrapped around it. Gambit ran towards the machine and used his staff to vault himself up to its knee, before scrambling up the leg and grabbing its waist. He pulled himself up higher, using the open holes for the weapons until he got high enough to reach enough of the machine to blow it to pieces. The Cajun grabbed yet another new deck of cards and charged it, before sliding the cards down the weapon barrels, into slight openings in between plates on the chest, and into the joints of the shoulders and legs before dropping to the ground. The sentinel backed away, still trying to exit the flame it thought it was enveloped in, before bursting from the inside out.

Gambit looked at the piles of ash that had been the soldiers moments before, and hid a look of disgust.

"Let's keep moving!" The others looked at him for a moment, before they continued running deeper into the compound, trying to find their two teammates.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda blasted the corner of another building, causing it to shatter. Behind her, Lance was knocking down his third dormitory. She hadn't left him behind after all. Not because he "ordered" her to stay, but rather because he convinced her that they truly did need to tear the base apart.

A cart of security guards spun around corner she was blasting out and approached her. She nonchalantly blasted it, which caused it to suddenly switch into reverse and crash into yet another brick building at high speed. The guards spilled out and either ran away or were unconscious.

Pietro was back in the dormitory where they had left him. Lance had sealed both the front and rear door with a pile of rubble when they had exited. Wanda had asked how they would find it again, and he responded simply, saying that it would be the only one left standing.

Normally Wanda didn't go for wanton destruction like Lance, but she didn't know what else to do. Conflicting feelings of her father, brother, Lance, teammates and too many differing thoughts to keep track of were running through her head, and the only thing that was clear was his voice shouting at her. His logic made sense. She couldn't think straight, so he did it for her. At the moment she was little more than a machine, destroying a sentinel factory in northern Canada simply because someone had told her too.

Her father would have been pleased, had he known.

A rumbling behind her informed her that Lance had finished on his third and final dormitory. The only one that still stood was the one Pietro was in. The brown haired mutant crossed the road in between himself and Wanda and helped to bring down building G2. It looked much like a machine shop, or some sort of metal working plant. The edge of the compound had been much closer than either of the mutants had expected, being on the other side of the dorms. They both could see it easily, and the only thing that stood in their way was a thin fence with barbed wire wrapped on top of it.

"Where are the guards and sentinels do you think?" She asked as she weakened the structural integrity of G3, before his powers began shaking the building to pieces. "We haven't been hardly attacked at all since we stopped running."

"Dunno'. I'm guessing the others are busy attracting their attention or something. I mean, how else do you not notice that a huge portion of your base is being knocked down?" He responded as they calmly walked in between the rubble of G2 and G3 heading for the next row. Over the skyline made by the rest of the base a plume of fire could be seen spiking up and down. "I'm guessing that's Pyro. See? Absolute destruction is always a viable answer. Now we can see where the others are."

Wanda sent a hex bolt into the air, marking their position to anybody that looked in their direction. A few moments later a flaming question mark shot up. She sent another one into the air which exploded into a shower of blue. The flame responded by turning into a smiley face.

"Now that everybody and everything in this entire base knows where we are what would you like to do?" Lance asked sarcastically, trying not to yell at the girl. As they watched five sentinels from various positions around the base all launched themselves into the air and began approaching the two of them.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Okay let's go!" Gambit ordered and immediately began running towards the hex bolts they had all seen a moment earlier. The others followed him as they sprinted through the maze of avenues in an attempt to reach the other mutants. They were forced to slow down as Fred and then Jason lagged behind, but still went fairly quickly.

Gambit approached a corner and ran directly into Wanda who had just ran out from it, knocking her to the ground with an "Umph!"

"Cherie! Are you alright?!" He asked eagerly, seeing no marks upon her and inwardly rejoicing that Magneto wouldn't crucify him.

Lance spun around the corner a moment later holding an unconscious Pietro. "No time! Run!"

Wanda scrabbled to her feet and took off after him as they fled past their group of would – be rescuers.

Gambit looked past the building's edge and saw three sentinels _running_ towards him. He spun back around and wheeled his arm as he followed the other two mutant's lead.

"Go! Go! Run!"

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N:** Another chapter. The next one finishes up this mission, and we can move on. I don't really like the interaction between Lance and Wanda again, but I don't really know how to make it more like either the show or more real at all. Any suggestions would be nice. The two of them just didn't talk to each other in the hardly ever, so it always feels forced when I write dialogue for them. Constructive criticism is always welcome, so please let me know if something is spelled incorrectly or if the grammar I use is poor. Also, if something doesn't make sense let me know and I'll see if I can clarify it. I know sometimes the author's mental image isn't expressed very well and that can cause complications for the readers to visualize. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 20**

"What are we gonna do about Pietro?" Wanda yelled out, as she lead a retreat away from the sentinels behind her. Her lungs burned and her legs ached from all the sprinting she had done that night, but slowing down wasn't really an option so she continued to push herself to go as fast as she could.

"Right now give him to Fred. He can carry him a lot easier." Gambit shouted back to her. His coat flew behind him as he sprinted alongside Lance and it kept slapping Fred and Jason in the knees.

Lance threw Pietro over to Fred in a surprising show of both strength and a seeming lack of care about the white haired mutant.

The group turned a corner as they ran through the alleys between burning buildings. Pyro continuously made a tunnel through the flames for them to pass through, before allowing the flames to regrow back to their original size when the group had past. His lack of spirited laughter indicated the amount of work he had been through in the night, and his face was was smudged with soot and covered with sweat. The goggles he normally wore had been thrown to the ground sometime earlier in the night when they became too blackened to see through.

A soldier suddenly ran through the smoke and flames and ran right into Gambit, causing both men to fall flat to the ground. Lance nearly tripped over them as he tried to avoid running them over. The soldier got up as fast as Gambit did and they both launched themselves towards each other. Their hands met and a quick contest of strength was initiated. Before it could be finished though, a blue hex bolt from Wanda sent the guard stumbling into the side of the building next to him. Gambit quickly grabbed the human's head and slammed it into the wall several times until he passed out. He told Blob to grab the man and they all began moving again.

Before they had gone far Gambit had ran ahead of Wanda and executed a choppy flying kick into a door that the group was about to pass, knocking it wide open before waving the rest of the group inside a random building. They followed, and all crowded inside of a small dark lobby. The sounds of laborious breathing was all that could be heard from the mutants at first, until Gambit spoke up.

"Okay. What's wrong with Quicksilver first?"

"He got blasted by a sentinel." Lance replied, cutting off Wanda's response.

"Alright. Shit. Okay then. Mastermind, I need you to get inside this guy's head," he indicated the unconscious soldier, "and find out who's in charge of this base and where we can find him. We still need to find out the information Magneto sent us here to get." Mastermind nodded and immediately began delving into the mind of the soldier.

"What? You guys didn't get it yet?!" Lance cried out incredulously, lifting his head to gape at Gambit.

"No we didn't. In case you didn't notice, this place is swarming with sentinels. So we had a couple of problems wi' 'dat. Okay?" Gambit responded angrily, his accent becoming more pronounced. "So now, we need to get de' info from this guy's head, go find the guy in charge of this place, hope he hasn't taken off yet, and either mind fuck or kidnap him. So, what I need you two to do," he pointed at Lance and Wanda, "is get back out d'ere and distract the sentinels while we find the guy."

"What!" Wanda and Lance both exploded at the same time.

"We've been running our asses off this whole night trying to get to you because we thought that when we did we could burn this stupid place down and LEAVE! Now you want us to go back out there and play chicken with the sentinels a SECOND time? No way!" Wanda shouted, her voice threatening to crack.

"We don't have time for this! We're still running from some you know!" Gambit shouted back. He pushed Wanda out the door and then threw Lance after her before the brown haired mutant could respond. "Sorry! And good luck. Once we're ready we'll have Pyro send up a signal fire. Look for it!" And with that the door slammed in both younger mutant's faces, locking them back out in the alley between two buildings, one of which was on fire.

Wanda's hands changed the color of the alley from a brilliant orange to a cool blue as she prepared to blast the door down and tear Gambit apart. Before she could raise her hands though Lance had grabbed her right one and began pulling her behind him as he started sprinting in the direction the group had originally been going.

"Ow! What's the big idea?!" Wanda demanded murderously as she tried to regain her balance and keep up with the earth shifter.

"That!" He waved with his free right arm over his shoulder, indicating something behind them.

Wanda looked back to see the sentinels that had been chasing them all stop running and shift into their weapons mode. She looked away and tried to keep up as Lance dashed down a corner that lead them away from the burning buildings.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

They heard the cries of rage from the other side of the door and the light that made its way through the cracks between the top and bottom of it turned blue for a moment, but faded quickly enough. Gambit breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Mastermind, whose hands were on the soldier's temples. He purposefully ignored the looks Pyro and Blob gave him.

"Got anything yet?" He asked the telepath.

"Not yet. His mind's scrambled from the concussion you gave him. Give me a moment." Mastermind responded harshly.

"You fruit loop mongrel! What the 'ell do you think you're doing? You just reeled them in and threw them back to the sharks you stupid dickhead!" Pyro raged, storming over to Gambit and shoving him.

"It had to be done! They made it this far alone and I need everyone else to help get the shit Mags wants! So shut up! Don't you t'ink dat I know what I just did?!" Gambit shoved back, finally having lost his cool.

A hand reached over and picked Gambit up by his collar before slamming him into the wall of the lobby. Remy saw stars for a moment before his vision focused on the glare Fred was giving him.

"Nothing better happen to them or else!" He dropped the Cajun to the floor and backed over to the door, then shifted Pietro so that he rested over his left shoulder.

"Back off! Both of you!" Gambit shouted, emphasizing his remarks by jabbing his finger at them.

"Got it!" Mastermind's, unnoticed in the fight, suddenly cried out. "Colonel Harrisman. Should be in his office in the northern part of the compound, near communications."

"Let's go!" Gambit ran out the door and lead the way into the blazing compound.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda let out a steady stream of curses as she ran, matched by similar utterances from Lance. He suddenly dove to his right, tackling her and using his powers to force several hundred pounds of force on the wall they were about to crash into, sending them both through it. She let out a short cry of surprise. He landed over her, managing to avoid landing on her as they impacted the hard tiled floor of the building they were mostly laying in. Lance shuddered a brief moment before rolling off her and to his feet.

She grabbed his outstretched hand, pulling herself up. They immediately started running through a large mostly empty warehouse before she could question his actions.

"Saw some guards ahead of us. Had to hide before they saw us." He explained in short sentences as they ran to the corner of the other side of the warehouse. He began shaking the wall as he had done dozens of times earlier that night. Before it could collapse though he stopped and stumbled, rubbing his head. Wanda quickly grabbed him to stop him from losing his balance.

"You okay?" She asked hurriedly.

Lance let out a small moan once, before taking his hand down and nodding. "Yeah. I can handle it." He shook the wall again, letting it shake itself to pieces, rather than simply blasting through it as he had just done when they entered the building.

"Okay. Let me know if it gets to be too much. The last thing we need is for you to pass out." Wanda said, grabbing his hand and taking the lead. He nodded, and shut his eyes, letting her lead him blindly.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

They made their way past small groups of guards fairly easily thanks to Mastermind and arrived at the small brick building that was the Colonel's office quickly. The windows were dark, but they hoped it was due to a power failure rather than the building being empty. They hadn't seen any sentinels at all, which left them all with a mixture of relief and worry. It just meant that none had caught up to Avalanche and the Scarlet Witch yet.

Fred punched the heavy wooden door to the building open. The mutants poured inside and looked around, but didn't see anyone. Gambit quickly checked under the desk and opened a door that led to a closet. He let out a growl before turning to the computer on the desk. He opened up the case and removed the hard drive while the others looked around at the small room. Fred showed a moment of brightness when he walked over to a locked file cabinet and tore the doors on it open. He didn't bother to check what the files were as he grabbed them all and just barely fit them into the numerous pockets on his uniform.

"Any ideas Mastermind?" Gambit asked as he stood back up.

"He might be in the communications building, trying to restore order or call for help." Jason replied.

"Did that guard think that or do you?" Gambit asked warily.

"Does it matter?"

Gambit canted his head in contemplation before he shrugged and ran out the door.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Colonel Martin Harrisman yelled at the attendant before him. "What do you mean we can't reach anyone?!"

"I **mean** that we can't reach anyone! No wireless communication at all. If you want to get a hold of anyone you need to use a land line – and they've all been either cut or shut down somehow." The junior officer replied coolly.

The Colonel held in a frustrated growl. "Okay. Stay here and keep trying to get through to anyone. If you do get through then tell them we've been attacked by an unknown number of mutants and that we need emergency personnel to respond. Then contact me. Understood?"

The younger man saluted. "Yes sir."

The Colonel saluted back and ran to the door. As he reached for the doorknob the door flew open and launched him across the room and into a wall, where he landed over a monitor, unconscious.

The junior officer quickly spun and drew a pistol before a massive figure picked him up and slammed him against a wall. He dropped the weapon as he stared in shock at the group before him. He was being held by a giant of a man, who looked like a teenager. Standing next to him was a skinny man with _active_ flame throwers and another skinny shady looking figure looking around at the room.

A grim man in a trench coat walked up and leaned in very closely, glaring at him with inhuman red and black eyes.

"Colonel Harrisman?"

The human pointed to the Colonel that was unconscious by the far wall.

"Damn. Oh well, we'll just take him with us. As for this guy," Gambit indicated the junior officer, "I guess we can get away with just knocking him out." Before anyone could respond Blob simply threw the man behind him, causing him to impact the far wall hard enough to cause severe internal injuries. He then went over and picked up the Colonel and threw him over his right shoulder, causing him to mirror Pietro on his left.

"Alright. Let's find Wanda and Lance and torch this place!"

Pyro lead the way outside, sparking his weapons as soon as he passed the door frame.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Okay, I think we can just stay here until either the others find us or the whole place burns down." Wanda said, sitting on a cardboard box. She hadn't bothered checking to see what was in it. Lance sat nearby on another box. They had managed to get away from the sentinels again, and were hiding out in the darkened back room of what looked like a laundromat.

Lance nodded. "Fuck them," was all he said. He was obviously indicating Gambit and the rest of the Brotherhood that had left them out to dry.

They both sat in silence for several minutes, slowly regaining their breath and calming down.

Wanda shivered. It was still cold out, despite the roaring conflagration that had enveloped nearly half the base. Apparently whatever buildings weren't actively in use didn't have their heat turned on. She decided to try and make conversation to keep her mind off the cold.

"So, we have to be the luckiest two people on the planet right now huh."

Lance looked up at her, confusion on his face. "Huh?"

"I mean, well, we just spent the better part of I don't even know how long running around a military base getting chased and shot at how many times and we managed to hide from everyone how many times? And just how many shots almost hit us tonight? It's a miracle we're both alive, let alone unhurt."

"Huh. Guess you're right. I was thinking of it the other way around. We've managed to avoid all backup how many times tonight and the one time we finally we meet up we have to leave them and go play bullet dodger again." He responded.

"Well, if our bad luck is not joining the others, and our good luck is not getting shot, then I'm fine if our luck stays the same." Wanda replied.

"Good point."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Wanda again initiated conversation.

"So, what should we do now?" She asked, hoping that a topic more relevant to the mission would allow for a longer conversation. She rubbed her arms to try and keep them warm and cursed herself for not wearing her coat.

"Well, to be honest, I'm perfectly fine with just sitting here for the rest of the night." He stated.

"What about the others?" Wanda asked.

"Fuck them."

"Don't you even care? They are our teammates you know." Wanda said, a scowl appearing on her face.

"I did until they threw us out that door for the sentinels to chase."

She didn't respond .

Suddenly Lance perked up. "Hey you know what? Let's bail." Seeing the questioning look on her face he continued. "I mean, what was our mission again? To trash this place, and get the information. The trashing this place is almost definitely gonna happen thanks to Pyro's fire, and neither you or I was supposed to get any information from anyone. Our part's done, and we're both damn near spent. Let's just go."

"This is a pretty big turnaround from earlier, when you were completely opposed to running away. In fact, you stopped us from leaving and decided to go about destroying the nearby buildings."

"Yeah well, I changed my mind. They abandoned us, so why not abandon them? If we hadn't been so busy running like hell then we'd be in better shape to tear this place apart. I don't know about you, but I'm running on empty." Lance argued.

"I'm not full either. Alright, I guess. Father won't be angry at us for leaving everyone behind?" She questioned suddenly.

"He probably will be. But you know what? I _really_ don't care anymore."

Wanda suddenly realized that she didn't care either. "Huh. Neither do I. Let's get out of here."

They ran out of the building and were ready to begin the process of sneaking out when two metal orbs crashed down in front of them and opened up. They paused for a moment before they each dove in one.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Pyro shot another jet of flame into the sky, shaping it into a question mark. He looked eagerly for a blue hex bolt to fly above the burning skyline, but was once again disappointed.

"Don't worry about it Pyro. I'm sure they're fine." Gambit said reassuringly. Inwardly he was worried sick that Lance and Wanda had been finally captured or killed. If either had happened then Magneto would fry him and serve him up for breakfast. "Let's head for the landing site. Burn any building along the way. We're done here." The small group of mutants all began running along the northern fence towards the western wall of the compound. Pyro shot flames into windows and onto the roofs of the buildings they passed.

The group soon came to the remains of the buildings that Lance and Wanda had demolished. They were running down the lane between the rows of rubble when a wall of metal suddenly slammed to the pavement in front of Gambit. The shockwave knocked him off balance and he crashed into a metal foot. Before he could push himself off, Pyro slammed into him, knocking the air out of the Cajun. Gambit shoved the Australian off of him and spun around to see the small group of four surrounded by three sentinels. The only one that hadn't been knocked over or tripped was Blob, and he was occupied with his two unconscious passengers.

The right hand guns all pointed downwards at a mutant and didn't waver in the slightest as they tracked their target. Gambit raised his hands above his head and the others followed suit, each being careful not to make any sudden moves. Gambit felt his leg go slightly damp as his bladder released.

The only movement for several seconds was the slight inhaling and exhaling of the mutants. Gambit began charging the gloves he wore, hoping that the sentinels wouldn't notice.

They did. And immediately the black hollow barrels of the weapons released a brilliant blue-white glow as the guns prepared to fire.

Suddenly all three of the machines were launched into the air at just under supersonic speeds. Their shots hit nothing but the air below their feet. As Gambit and company all looked upwards they saw the three machines slam into each other, moving at speeds impossible for the behemoths to attain on their own. After being slammed together several more times they fell from the sky limply, causing small impact craters where they landed. Several carts full of soldiers pulled up to the mutants but they weren't able to remove the smile that had appeared on the Cajun's face.

As the soldiers all lined up to get clear shots at their targets a dark figure descended from the black sky and landed between them and the Brotherhood. As the humans watched in surprise, their guns disassembled before their eyes. A metal sphere jetting silently through the air impacted one end of the line the humans made and pushed on through, slamming into every soldier before any could move out of the way. Magneto ignored their cries of pain and turned to the Brotherhood. He noticed the bodies Fred was carrying and turned towards Gambit.

"What is this?" His tone was neutral and the helmet he wore hid his face so Gambit wasn't able to tell how what Magneto's mood was. It didn't matter, since Gambit knew he was on thin enough ice as it was, and decided to tread lightly.

"The human is the man in charge of this base. Pietro was already hurt when we found Lance and Wanda." Gambit pulled out the hard drive he had in his coat. "This came from his, "Gambit indicated Colonel Harrisman," computer. And Blob has the files from his office."

Magneto responded slowly. "Very well. I've already picked up Lance and Wanda." Gambit visibly sagged in relief. "Blob, put Quicksilver in a sphere with Gambit and take the human with you." He walked over and grabbed the hard drive Gambit had. A line of metal spheres landed behind him and four opened. The mutants climbed into the one nearest them. Blob gently handed Pietro to Gambit before getting into his own.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/n:** Well, the first mission is finally finished. Lance and Wanda are pissed at the rest of the group. Gambit isn't sure where he stands with anybody, having pissed off a lot of people during the mission, but luckily for him everything ended up turning out okay so if he's lucky people won't hate him. Magneto stepped in and saved the day, and everyone is finally ready to go home. Next chapter, we get to see the results of the mission, and finally find out what happened to Amara.

Now, as for parts of the chapter that I feel like explaining immediately instead of waiting for next chapter. Magneto was watching the mission ever since Gambit's group headed back. Prior to that he generated a magnetic field that cut all wireless communication, as well as destroyed the land lines throughout the base. And, even before all of that he pulled the bullet out of Toad's leg and bandaged it. Finally, at the very beginning of the mission, he activated his cloaking device to hide the mutant powers from being picked up by both Cerebro and by sentinels outside of the cloaking field. One of the reasons that there were so few encounters between the Brotherhood and the soldiers and guards is because Magneto encountered them first.

I made more notice of Gambit's accent in this chapter, mostly to show the stress he was under. He really didn't want to, as Pyro put it, throw Lance and Wanda to the sharks, but he was in a bad enough position as it was and did the best he could in a tight spot.

I tried to show some personality in the rest of the mutants within Gambit's group, but I'm not sure if it was very clear. Any comments on that would be **very** much appreciated. I didn't want to make all the mutants mindless soldiers, but I did want to make them soldiers, so I'd love to hear feedback on that.

Lastly, any and all comments on this chapter are appreciated. I really like it, and this is probably as good as my writing will get on my own, so any comments will really help me improve here. Thanks for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 21**

Wanda had never been as sore as she was now. She had woken up about thirty minutes earlier and was slow to get out of bed. Her arms and legs ached, and moving caused them to hurt even more. In fact she couldn't really think of any good reason to leave her nice warm bed and go out to face her father and the rest of the Brotherhood that day. As she lethargically thought over the events of the night before, she eventually realized that she hadn't showered after the mission.

_Ugh._ Craning her neck, she looked down at herself and realized she was covered in dirt, soot, and dried sweat. Letting out a small groan of irritation, she rolled out of bed and crawled to her locker. After finding adequate clothes for what she expected to be an easy day around the base, she trudged off to the showers, hoping that nobody else was in them.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance was aimlessly walking around the base, trying to keep his mind off his pounding headache. Nobody was allowed to see Pietro or Todd, both of whom were in the medical bay, although Magneto said that they would each be okay. He had found out what had happened to Toad only after the team had landed, when Magneto had moved both Pietro and Todd into the medical bay and made Lance hang around until he could be checked out for a concussion. With the Aussie and Fred taking over the big television, and with nothing worth watching anyway, he chose to meander around the base, hoping to run into Gambit, to give the Cajun a good verbal beating. Nobody had said anything, but everybody knew that Gambit was in trouble. Magneto was still with Todd and Pietro, but had called for a debriefing at noon, at which point he would explain what happened the night before and make sure everyone knew what went right and what went wrong. It was a little different for Lance, who was used to Mystique just stomping up the stairs after any "mission," but he liked the idea of everyone explaining their part and the mission as a whole being examined. Lance was certain that the debriefing would be where Gambit would get chewed out and punished.

The other missing person was Mastermind. Lance didn't know how he did it, but the telepath always disappeared when he wasn't needed. Well, it could have been thanks to his illusions, and he could have just been sitting in a corner somewhere, unnoticed by the rest of the team, but somehow Lance doubted that the ...What country was Mastermind from anyway? Anyway, Lance doubted that the _European_ mutant spent his days sitting in a corner hiding from people.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"So Pyro, what happens at these meetings that Magneto called?" Fred asked from his position on a recliner, while watching a Twilight Zone marathon.

Pyro was just as engrossed in the program as Fred, and took a moment to answer, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Uh. He normally...uh...he...what?" Fred repeated his question word for word. It was a unique way of annoying people that he had found, and generally got people to answer the question. "Oh. We'll just go over the mission and stuff. Like where everyone was and what they did when. We normally have them right after a mission, but with Pietro and Toad hurt, and Lance so out of it I guess he felt like waiting until today."

"Gambit'll get in trouble for throwing Lance and Wanda back out to the Sentinels won't he?" Fred questioned.

"Well, maybe. Probably not BIG trouble. Last night yeah, I was hoping he would too when I was still ticked at him, but today? S'not like anything he did got anybody hurt you know? And he did get the stuff Magneto wanted. Things went bad, and Toad and Pietro were hurt, but neither one was his fault. So I don't know. He's in trouble as it is though ?" Pyro said. He saw Fred's questioning look and answered. "Well, I don't know what you think mate, but I wouldn't want to have both Avalanche and Wanda ticked at me." All questions answered, Pyro immediately gave the program his full attention again.

"Heh. Got that right." Fred responded, but seeing that Pyro didn't notice, he bit back a sigh and went back to watching the show.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Magneto walked into the rec room, still wearing his costume from the night before. He looked around for a moment, before speaking. "You can go see Pietro and Toad now. They're both asleep and won't wake up until this afternoon at the earliest though. Where is everyone?" John and Fred both looked at each other, then Magneto, before shrugging in unison. They went back to watching their show. Magneto sighed and walked out of the room. He had hoped that Fred and John would show _some _interest in their teammates, but didn't really expect them to.

He walked deeper into the base, and glanced around to make sure nobody saw him, before using his powers to open a door disguised as as a blank section of hallway. He walked inward, and the door closed automatically behind him. He was in a long well lit hallway with several rows of bars blocking passage down it. Either side of the hall had several heavy steel doors with a hard clear plastic view port cut into them. Magneto walked up to the first row of bars, punched a code of numbers into a pad in the wall, and walked through once the bars sank into the floor. As he walked away they rapidly climbed back out of the floor and locked into a position near the ceiling. He repeated this process three more times, until he got to the end of the hallway. He took a quick glance at the girl that was locked in the room on the right side of the hall and saw that she was laying peacefully on her cot. He walked over to the left side of the hall, and after a quick check to confirm that everything was alright, he punched in yet another different code and entered.

"Any luck?" Magneto asked.

"Yes actually. His mind is very easy to access. I've written down a list of places and names that should be checked out. It's in my pocket." Mastermind responded. He had been probing Colonel Harrisman's mind since early that morning and found just about everything he needed to know. He was simply checking through the man's memories one last time before he would blank everything that had happened since last night.

"Good work. How's the girl doing?" Magneto asked.

"Getting worse. She's finally figured out that the Xavier Institute I kept putting her in isn't real. So, I gave her a tranquilizer while I construct a new illusion for her."

"That explains why she appeared so passive just a moment ago. Are you finished?" Magneto asked, indicating the Colonel.

"For the most part. I just need to blank his memories."

Magneto's grim voice remained calm as he responded. "Don't bother." He raised his index finger and placed it on the Colonel's forehead. Mastermind backed away and immediately began writing on a paper he had withdrawn from his pocket and pushed up against the smooth metal wall of the cell.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lance was in the kitchen making a sandwich and looking for something with caffeine to help fight his headache. He hadn't taxed his powers as much as he had last night since the time he helped stop that train explosion. In addition to that, he hadn't been able to sleep much, since he had been worried about Pietro and been forced to stay awake for nearly an hour in the medical bay until Magneto had taken approximately two minutes to look at him and told him that he was fine and could go to bed. Finally, the bump on the side of his head was still tender, and throbbed in conjunction with the headache caused by his own powers.

'Coffee!' He had at last found the elusive can of ground beans. Magneto kept _fantastic_ coffee in the kitchen. Lance quickly began making a pot, waiting impatiently for it to fill up.

Several minutes later he sat at the larger kitchen table and was slowly sipping away when Magneto walked in and poured himself a mug as well. The Master of Magnetism quietly sat across from him and drank in silence. Lance noted how tired Magneto looked. It was obvious that he had spent the night treating Toad and Quicksilver rather than resting.

Magneto noticed Lance looking at him and commented. "You can go see Pietro and Todd if you like. They'll be asleep till this afternoon at the earliest though. Don't wake them up."

Lance perked up slightly. "Are they okay?"

"They'll be fine. However, it will take some time before either is ready to go on another mission."

"What happened?" It was a dumb question really, but Lance did want to know the actual details about what had happened to his friends.

"Toad was shot in the leg. The bullet hit his femur and caused an incomplete fracture. His legs are strong though. It didn't do as much damage as it would have done to you or I. He should recover within a month, and be back to active duty within two if his leg heals as fast as I think it will." Magneto paused to pour himself more coffee. He took a sip before continuing. "Pietro, as near as I can tell, was shot in the foot by a Sentinel. The blast seems to have impacted on the sole of his boot, and the heat washed up his leg, which caused the damage. His skin is cooked, and the nerves are damaged, but he should be okay in time. He was _extremely_ lucky." Magneto emphasized. "His boots, as I'm sure you've realized, are the strongest part of his uniform." Lance nodded. "Depleted uranium armor covered with spider silk along with Nomex. He couldn't have _picked_ a better spot to have been shot by that blast. The burns will heal, but it will take some time. With proper treatment he shouldn't have any future problems with the leg. How long it will take to heal is harder to tell. His power makes things difficult. I'm anticipating at least one month of recovery, possibly two, like Toad."

Lance nodded again. "And what will they do while recovering?"

"Stay off their legs for one thing. Otherwise, I'm not certain yet. I haven't had time to think ahead." With that said, Magneto drained his mug and stood up, his demeanor shifting from 'doctor' to 'leader.'

He turned and started to walk away. "Debriefing in fifteen minutes. Round up the others and meet me in the War room."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

One Hour Later

"Then me and Wanda ran out of the laundry room and got into the orbs. And that's it." Lance finished his story. Beside him, Wanda nodded to affirm what he had said. Everyone was sitting on various chairs in the War Room. The war room looked a lot like a scene out of Star Wars. It was fairly large and circular, with massive computers lining the walls with equally large screens. In the middle of the room was a large two dimensional hologram that showed a Mercator Projection. Wanda silently marveled at the intelligence of her father upon seeing it. All around the edges of the room along the computers were rounded chairs that all the mutants -save Magneto, who stood, and Todd and Pietro who were still in the medical bay - now sat in. The debriefing wasn't like anything Wanda had expected. Her father had each person tell their own story about the mission. Nobody interrupted at any point, and her father didn't seem to be mad at anyone. Only now, when Lance finished telling his version of the mission did her father begin to ask questions.

"Gambit, you said that you went down the stairs under a trap door and encountered a different type of guard. One of the black soldiers that we saw last night?" Magneto asked, pacing back and forth up and down the room. Gambit nodded. "And you don't know what was past the door that you saw down in this 'factory'?"

"No. I think it might have been an office for some guy in charge." Remy said, his voice with only a small trace of the accent he usually had.

"Very well. Continuing. When did Toad get shot?"

"I'm not so sure. Think it might have been when we ran into the three security guards when we were running away. He started screaming and I had to carry him from there on."

"I see." Magnus said pensively, looking down in thought. "And after you met up with Avalanche and Wanda, you threw them out to the Sentinels. Why?" Anybody that knew Magneto well enough would recognize that his slip-up of using informal words meant something bothered him more than he let on.

Remy stuttered for a moment, trying to remember just what he had been thinking when he had done that. "I remember thinking that they were the ones the Sentinels were chasing. And that they had done pretty well at running away so far, so they would probably keep doing a good job. Plus, I could trust them." Everyone had a confused look when Gambit said that. "What I mean is, I couldn't send Fred, since he was carrying Pietro. And I couldn't send Mastermind since I might have needed him to check out a few more guards. I needed to stay with the group to get the information, and I suppose I could have made Pyro be the distraction, but it didn't really cross my mind." Gambit said, finishing his statement slowly. Everyone other than Pyro knew that Gambit probably had considered sending the Australian, but knew that he probably wouldn't have been able to do a very good job.

"I see." Magneto replied pensively, looking downward slightly. He waited a minute before continuing, which Gambit considered to be a very bad thing for himself. Just when Remy was about to speak up and elaborate Magneto looked upward and continued. "Gambit." He turned an expressionless face towards the Cajun. "While I am not happy with the outcome of the mission, I find your performance...'satisfactory'." Gambit inwardly sighed with relief. "However, you had much better choices of action available to yourself that you either did not consider or did not follow. I want you to spend at least fifteen additional hours in the training room over the next three days, with an emphasis on leadership programs." The younger members of the Brotherhood seemed confused, but the older members all seemed to know exactly what that meant.

Remy nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The punishment was fairly light, even if he did feel like he hadn't deserved one.

Magneto turned back to the rest of the mutants assembled. "As for the rest of you. You all did exemplary jobs. If you continue to perform as well as you did last night then this Brotherhood will soon achieve its objectives." He said this last sentence with a tone of finality that made everyone believe the debriefing was finally over. They all started to get up from their seats before Magneto cut them off.

"One last thing everyone. An announcement." Everyone looked upwards at the Brotherhood leader, who drew himself upward in a fairly regal, if somewhat over dramatic pose. "From this point onward, Avalanche is my second-in-command as well as field leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants." Surprise flashed across the faces of the mutants. Lance beamed once he processed the information, although he tried to hide it. "Avalanche, stay here. The rest of you – dismissed."


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 22**

Remy walked out of the war room ahead of everyone else. He didn't have anything he had to do, so he considered putting a considerable dent in his training sessions since he knew no one else would be using the training room that day. The punishment that Magneto gave him wasn't difficult, but it was an annoyance.

The training room was informally called the Danger Room since it was extremely similar to the X-men's training facility. It was able to simulate any number of environments, atmospheric effects, battles, and targets. It differed from the X-men's Danger Room in several aspects. For one, Magneto's training room was bigger. It was approximately fifty feet wider than the X-men's, and consequently had significantly more space as well as a higher ceiling. In addition, it relied less on energy weapons than the Danger Room. Lastly, it rarely used forcefields, instead relying on actually shifting it's shape. In other words, if you stood on the roof of a city building while using the room and the hologram failed, you'd find yourself standing on a metal plate that had risen from the floor instead of on a forcefield produced by raised emitters.

Having to focus on leadership programs meant that Remy would be leading a robotic team that would simulate his teammates in battle conditions. They would generally follow his orders fairly directly and rely on their programming when dealing with an unanticipated decision. Unfortunately, the robots all lacked individual personalities, so they didn't teach anyone how to deal with living teammates. Still, it was better than nothing.

Remy turned to head back to the dormitory to grab his uniform, walking quickly. He had a feeling that Avalanche and Scarlet Witch were both still fairly pissed at him, and he didn't want to encounter either of them until they had cooled down a little. By the time Wanda walked out of the war room behind John and Fred he had already turned a corner and was out of sight.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Let's go see how Pietro and Toad are doing!" John exclaimed far too loudly, as usual, once he exited the war room.

"Ugh. Let's make lunch first, then go check on em." Fred responded. "I'm starving, and besides, they ain't supposed to wake up till a few hours from now. This way we can bring em somethin' to eat when they do wake up." His stomach growled loudly, as if agreeing with his statement.

Wanda nodded in agreement with Fred. She didn't really feel like talking much. Despite having to give an account of her portion of the mission the night before, she still felt fairly lazy and didn't really want to interact with anyone.

Surprisingly, Jason stuck around with the other three and spoke up. "Lets."

Fred lead the way to the kitchen. After a moment of indecision, John followed the others.

"So what do you guys think of Lance being the leader again?" Fred asked, while walking. "I think it'll be a good thing. Lance's never steered us wrong before."

John waited a moment, to see if Wanda would respond, but when it became apparent that she wasn't going to say anything he moved next to Fred and spoke up. "Well mate, I can't speak really, since he's never lead me, but he seems like a good enough bloke. What's he like when he's leadin'?" His hand fingered a lighter in his pocket as he walked.

"He's pretty good. He never really bosses people around too much. Just asks us to do stuff and makes sure it got done. Nothing like what Pietro was like." Fred responded.

Mastermind nodded. "I can imagine what Pietro was like as a leader. A better question is 'What will Avalanche be like when Magneto is around?' He seems to be trying very hard to impress him."

"Yeah. I dunno. For some reason Lance thought it was important to keep Mystique happy. It got kind of annoying to keep hearing what he thought Mystique would say. But normally he wasn't too bad." Fred answered. "Except sometimes he'd get really mad and start avalanching stuff around."

Wanda looked up at Fred suddenly. _What on Earth_ was he talking about? When was Mystique in charge of the Brotherhood?

Pyro nodded, and Mastermind didn't object, so it seemed like what Fred had said was a fact. It was yet another one of the things she couldn't remember. Something that she should have remembered. Her eyes narrowed. She'd find some answers later, that night. She'd gone long enough without knowing what she was missing out on, and Fred wouldn't be too hard to convince to talk. And if worse came to worse, neither Pietro nor Todd were able to run away right now.

John and Fred continued their conversation but she toned them out as she planned when and how to interrogate Fred or her brother that night.

Nobody saw Mastermind, at the back of the group, take a sudden interest in Wanda.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Pietro woke up slowly. Extremely slowly. In fact, once he had awakened, it took him nearly ten minutes to realize he was awake instead of dreaming. Once he did finally realize he was up though, he noticed that he felt very lightheaded. His vision seemed to swim in front of him, and it took him nearly a minute to realize that he was actually swaying his head slightly.

'Okay Pietro. Wake up.' He told himself, shaking his head back and forth in an effort to shake away the sleep he felt overtaking him. He immediately felt nauseous and stopped.

"Ooh. Bad idea. Okay, what's going on. Why can't I focus?' he slowly took a look around him, forcing himself to focus on what he could see. For some reason his brain wasn't processing anything. He realized that he had to go to the bathroom. Nausea or not, he was getting up. He looked around again, finally taking in his surroundings.

He was lying in a damaged uniform on a formerly clean white bed that had lots of black smudges on it. His boots were missing, and for some reason he couldn't feel his right leg from the waist down. He looked at his leg for a moment, before he realized what he was seeing. It was in a cast and bandaged, from foot to thigh. He tried moving it. It moved, but he didn't feel anything.

'Okay. I'm just gonna have to work around that.' He abruptly remembered he had been shot during the mission. If he had a mirror he would have seen that his skin, slightly paler than usual, paled even more, leaving him nearly white. 'Shot? I was shot!' A stream of expletives chained through his mind for several minutes before he finally calmed down.

'Oh man. Alright Pietro, think. What happened, and where am I? Dammit brain! Work!' He looked around again. He was in a metal room (no surprise), with an open door to his right leading to a lit hallway. On his left there was a white curtain. Above him two rows of fluorescent lights ran. They went over the curtain. 'Curtain, fluorescent lights, small room. Okay. I must be in the med bay, so I'm not in any danger. Except that I _still_ really have to go the bathroom. So, if I'm in one of the rooms in the med bay, then the bathroom must be to my left, behind the curtain. Can't feel my leg, which may be good or bad, but I probly shouldn't walk on it.' He pushed himself up on the bed he was laying in, into a reclining position, cringing at the extra pressure this put on his bladder. To his left there was a metal shelf with various medicine containers on it. Also, very long needles. He turned away from the shelf and looked to the right.

'Aha! Crutches! Yes! _No!_ Dammit! Crutches?! Shit!'

The speedster shook his head again to clear his thoughts, and once again nausea crept up, threatening to overtake him. He tried to ignore his thoughts and simply decided to get to the bathroom immediately, and then deal with the implications of the crutches and cast. He tried grabbing the crutches several times, before he accidentally knocked them to the floor. Apparently, he was having trouble with depth perception as well. Groaning, he slowly slid his right leg off the edge of the bed, which he just noticed was nearly three feet off the floor. Also, he found out that his right knee wasn't able to bend. He had to slide nearly halfway off the bed before he could get his leg down far enough to touch the floor. At least, he thought it touched the floor. The complete lack of feeling in the leg as well as his seemingly missing depth perception made it hard to tell if it was floating or resting. He pushed a little bit further off the bed and promptly slid to the floor, the slick sheets offering no holds to slow his descent. He twisted when falling, which resulted in his left foot slamming into the metal floor, **hard**.

**"FUCK!"**

The crutches were below him though, so this time he had no difficulty in grabbing them. Miraculously, once he had both crutches, he easily stood up. Once standing, he realized how dizzy he was when the room began swaying. The silver haired mutant forced himself to steady his arms, and slumped his head forward. 'No need to see where I'm going. All I have to do is turn around, get to the wall, follow it to the left, and I'll be at the bathroom. Easy.'

Turning around, while a challenge, wasn't the insurmountable obstacle he expected it to be. Neither was walking. After slowly (!) making his way to the wall opposite the bed, he went to his left. There! Past the curtain, he saw another bed, but more importantly, he saw beyond the doorway a darkened room that was the bathroom. He suddenly felt another attack of nausea, and found out that he could actually move quite quickly on the crutches as he rushed by the other bed (somebody was in it, but he didn't bother to look) and into the bathroom, where he dropped the left crutch and grabbed a smooth sink to help balance. The nausea passed.

Alright, now to take off this uniform. He silently cursed the fact that his uniform was a one-piece. Why couldn't he have pants and a top like Fred and Toad? He tried to pull out of the top half of his uniform with just his right hand, and found that the light armor that normally rested on his shoulders had also been removed. 'Thanks...somebody.' He managed to pull his right arm out, and then, awkwardly switching his hands, got his left out as well. 'Finally!' He quickly slid down the uniform and was able to relieve the pressure he had been feeling.

Once finished, he had to pull his uniform back up, since it was too cold to go without it. He slowly made his way out of the bathroom and, looking downward to keep from getting dizzy, bumped into the bed next to the bathroom. He looked up and saw Todd laying on it, the top half of his uniform off, and the right leg cut off near the thigh, where a cast began. It ran to his knee, where a brace which ran down his leg began, so it didn't look like he was in as bad a shape as Pietro. Pietro thought about waking the younger mutant up, but felt a strong desire for sleep coming back upon him. Apparently he had only been feeling awake due to his need to use the bathroom. He slowly made his way back to his bed, moving through a spinning, blurry world where nothing was as close or far away as it seemed. When he finally reached the bed, he awkwardly climbed into it, rolled over, and let the crutches fall to the floor before falling back asleep.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Two hours later Wanda, John, Jason, and Fred all stood in the room that housed Pietro and Todd. Both of the sleeping mutants had woken up, and were interacting, if not responding well, with their teammates. Jason mentioned that both of them had been placed under large amounts of dangerously strong painkillers. Pietro because he processed the medicine faster than usual, and Todd because it took a lot to overcome his system's resistance to drugs. Pietro tried to explain how he got shot and that it was apparently unavoidable, but it was somewhat difficult for anyone to understand the actual details. The assembled mutants each individually decided to reserve judgment until Pietro could better explain why he had launched a flying jump kick into a ball of plasma while carrying two passengers.

After being conversed with for several minutes both patients began responding more readily and seemed to come alive enough to talk with the others. Todd was taking full advantage of his status as a patient.

"So Wanda, you wanna be my nurse?" He asked, batting his eyes.

She cringed and recoiled slightly. "No."

"Aw, c'mon. Don't you want to care for a wounded soldier?" He whined.

"No." She retorted, her voice slightly rising. The others all watched with mild interest. The curtain between beds had been pulled back, so that Pietro could see.

"But cuddlebumps -"

"Don't call me that."

"But muffincakes-"

"**Or** that."

"But baby-"

"**Never**!" A slight blue glow flashed in the fluorescent lights, but didn't affect anything.

"Wanda. I only want to win your love!" Todd whined again. "What do I have to do? Tell me anything!" Jason left the room, shaking his head.

"Leave me alone!"

"Aw c'mon Wanda. You don't mean that."

"**Yes** I do."

"But-"

"If you say one more thing to me I'll hex you." Wanda raised a blue glowing hand threateningly.

"You wouldn't hit an injured love stricken soldier would you?" A blue glow flashed in the room. "Ouch! Yeah. I guess you would. That hurt."

Wanda walked out of the room. She called over her shoulder as she left, "Get better soon Pietro!"

Todd called back to her. "I will too sugarplum!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

That Night

The lights had gone out nearly an hour ago. Magneto had not been seen since the meeting earlier, and Mastermind disappeared from the medical bay and hadn't been seen since either. That actually made it easier for Wanda to sneak out of bed. Pietro and Todd were still in the med bay, and Mastermind wasn't in the dormitory either. Lance had been asleep when she entered the dorm, and Gambit and Pyro had both entered not long after she had.

Right now, she was able to hear the breathing of each of the other mutants in the dorm. She had waited what felt like fifteen minutes after Gambit, the last to fall asleep, was breathing regularly in order to be certain the others were actually asleep before she slipped out of her bunk. The outfit she wore – felt pants and a t-shirt was different from her usual nightgown. She had wanted appropriate garments for sneaking around to question people, and you just couldn't be very intimidating in a thin piece of silk.

She moved silently into the aisle between the rows of bunks. Fred was sleeping three beds down and across from her, opposite the direction of Lance's bed. Without Toad or Pietro, he was the only one to the right from her bed, which meant that she should be able to keep him quiet enough that the other guys wouldn't hear her wake him up.

The young mutant crouched and padded quietly down the aisle before she hit her head on something in the darkness. Unable to see, given the lack of light, she felt around to see what it was. Assuming to find that she had gone slightly off course and walked into a bunk, Wanda was surprised when she reached forward and felt a leg. Biting back a gasp she scooted backwards and looked up into a pair of glowing blue eyes bordered by the barely visible silhouette of her father.

**IIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N: **Made a revision in this chapter regarding Toad's injured leg. (4/29/07)


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 23**

The alarm clock began buzzing at Lance half an hour earlier than what he was used to. He quickly reached over and shut it off before he woke anybody else up. Half an hour's sleep was a small price to be paid for being second-in-command.

'Second-in-command. Yes!' He quickly got out of bed and grabbed his uniform from his locker.

It felt good. Really good. Even better than when Mystique had informed the Brotherhood after their third day of training that Avalanche would be field leader. Somehow, Magneto seemed to make the title mean something more than Mystique had. Maybe because it seemed like he'd actually get to do things as second-in-command, other than sit around and yell at the others whenever they got too loud. Maybe because Magneto's Brotherhood felt like it was more important. Maybe...any number of things. It didn't really matter. Lance Alvers felt good about himself for the first time since he knocked out Amara and that's all that mattered to him. He had promised not to let Magneto down yesterday, and promised himself that he wouldn't screw this up.

The hood-turned-terrorist patted down his hair and began to leave the dorm when he saw that Wanda's bed was empty.

'No rules against staying up, but maybe I should inform Magneto anyway? Nah. She probably had another nightmare and just went to watch television or something. I'll check the rec room on my way to the training room.'

Lance hadn't noticed Wanda having nightmares until Fred had mentioned to him that she wasn't sleeping well. He had been kind of caught up in his own problems at the time regarding his worry over what had happened to Amara, as well as putting in a little extra time in the Danger Room. Which had apparently paid off because he was SECOND-IN-COMMAND!

It was just a little too early to have a grin on his face, but Lance definitely had a lighter step that morning than his usual heavy trudge.

After a quick breakfast of coffee, (a full pot was already sitting out), and toast, Lance headed down to the training room via the long route, and was surprised to see that the rec room was empty. He shrugged and went to see Magneto for what would be his first day as the new field leader of the Brotherhood.

However, when he entered the command center for the Danger Room he found it was empty and mostly dark. The lights from various consoles were enough to show him that the room was empty, but he switched on the light anyway to be certain.

'This is weird. I was supposed to meet Magneto here at 6:45. Where is he?' Lance reminded himself to start carrying a watch and checked the time on the nearest computer.

6:44.

Lance waited five minutes before he decided to look for his employer. He let out a slight smirk at that thought. Apparently the brotherhood members were going to be paid modest salaries from this point onwards. He had found out yesterday when Magneto told him.

A quick check in the medical bay, as well as a glance in the computer room, hanger, and still broken sleeping quarters didn't reveal his boss. The wiring for the sleeping quarters had to be entirely redone and Magneto hadn't had time to get to it yet. Otherwise the rooms and hallway were intact, although there were no beds, desks, or lights yet.

'Okay. Not only haven't I found Magneto, but I haven't found Wanda yet either.' As far as Lance knew, the only way in or out of the base was through the hanger, although he strongly suspected that there were several other ways out. Maybe Magneto had taken Wanda somewhere? Lance decided to check the dormitory again one last time before heading to Magneto's private quarters.

Back in the dorm he found that Mastermind was missing as well.

'Okay. Magneto, Mastermind, and Wanda. Unless they're mind wiping her again, there shouldn't be any reason for Mastermind and Wanda to not be in their beds. Unless...' Lance quickly cut off that train of thought.

He did **not** want to think about Mastermind and Wanda that way. Ever.

The brotherhood's second-in-command walked to Magneto's door. Several moments after knocking, he decided that Magneto wasn't in.

Well. He _could_ lead the training for the day himself. In fact, that might be what he was supposed to do. This whole thing could be one big test. But if it was a test, then the first thing he should have done is figured out where his missing teammates were.

Lance entered the computer room and entered the password Magneto taught him yesterday in order to access the video footage taken by the security cameras. He had fifteen minutes till the others would be in the training room, and he wanted to be there on time to start a session with them.

After fast forwarding through the video monitoring the dormitory, he saw Magneto and Mastermind enter it about an hour after everyone else had. Nearly ten minutes later they both walked out carrying Wanda, who seemed to be unconscious. He followed the video taken of them from several different tapes before he found that after turning a certain corner, they disappeared. There were no cameras in the hallway they turned into, and another fast forward only showed Magneto walk out from that corner to make coffee before returning with two mugs several minutes later.

Lance glanced at the clock. Training officially started at 7:15, and he still had 3 minutes to be there on time. The others were all awake and either eating or heading to the training center by now. Lance shut down the computer he had been using and went to the hallway that had no cameras in it.

The hallway technically ran down the middle of the Magneto's base, dividing it in two. The Brotherhood of Mutants only used half of two levels of the base. The particular hallway that Lance was investigating was rarely used, since for all intents and purposes, it was only an extremely long detour. It had only one door in it, which led into a storage room. That storage room had another door on the opposite side of it, so that if someone needed to enter, they would rarely use the door on the far side where Lance was.

He suddenly wondered why there wasn't a door on the other side of the hall, leading to the other half of the base.

The storage room behind him had cameras in it, as well as the corridors that met with the hallway. So obviously, there had to be another way out. After a quick search, running his fingers along the bare metal that made up the blank half of the hall while emitting a low amount of seismic energy, he found a part that vibrated much more readily than the rest. A moment of testing showed that it was a large rectangular shape. More than likely a hidden door. Mystique had had a secret room in the basement of the brotherhood house that he had found as well. She kept various firearms and infiltration equipment as well as ammunition and a computer with a big monitor in it. He probably should have told Magneto, but didn't feel like ratting out one of Mystique's secrets that only he knew.

So, Magneto and Mastermind had taken Wanda into a secret part of the base last night, and still hadn't come out with her. Lance was out of time to continue investigating, so he began a quick walk to the training room command center. With Magneto absent and busy Lance decided that he was in charge until his boss was done.

He entered the command center to find Fred, Remy, and John waiting for him. The door shut behind him just as the computers simultaneously switched to 7:16.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Never mind that Pietro and Todd were hurt, or that Jason and Wanda were missing, _where was Magneto?_ Gambit suppressed a groan when he saw Lance walk through the door. He did _not_ want to take orders from an ambitious teenager with delusions of glory. Biting the bullet, he asked.

"Where's Magneto?" The Cajun charm that normally saturated every word he made was completely absent.

"He's busy." Lance answered evasively.

Oh no. This was _not_ going to work. Remy decided right then and there that he was not going to put up with Avalanche bossing him around in Magneto's name.

'Best to nip this in the bud.'

He was going to take the whole second-in-command thing up with Magneto. If Mags wanted to form a 'leaders only' club that was fine, but Remy was not going to play that game.

"Oh? I need to speak with him. Where is he?" Remy replied haughtily. Beside him Fred and John both had picked up on the brewing conflict between him and Lance and took interest.

"Anything you need to tell him you can tell me." Lance replied, again refusing to answer Remy's question.

"Not this thing. So, tell me _Avalanche_, what's he up to?" The Cajun's voice deepened into a threat.

"I'm second-in-command _Gambit._ And I'm telling you he's busy. Now shut up and start warming up. That's an order." Lance retorted, the strain in his voice betraying his mounting anger.

Remy responded tensely. "An order? Listen here Avalanche. Just because Mag-" His words were cut off when Fred gave him a sudden shove backwards. Only the older mutant's natural agility stopped him from falling backwards. "**Back off!**" He shouted fiercely at Fred.

"You back off! Lance is our leader now so you better listen to him – or else." Fred responded, shaking a fist slightly at the other mutant.

Remy felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and he violently shrugged it off before realizing it was John. The Australian leered at him menacingly.

"Wotch it mate. What's the problem?" His words warbled slightly in pitch. A small smile appeared on the lunatic's face. "Is there some kind of conflict?" He spit out his next words. "Somethin' wrong you root rat?" He advanced towards Remy, who began walking backwards slowly, one of his hands reaching into his coat. "Cuz Oi don't see any reason for this altercation. So woi don't you calm down like the rest of us, eh mate?" Pyro pointed towards Lance, who was regarding the Australian with a wary expression. "Lancey here's a fine second for us. Don't you agree?" He finished threateningly with one of his flamethrowers inches away from Gambit's face.

Remy slapped the arm that held the flamethrower away from him. "Get away from me John!" He turned towards Lance and Fred, who both looked at him hostilely. "Alright then." Remy put on a fake smile and held his arms up and outspread. "No problem here. Let's train."


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 24**

Gambit mentally berated himself as he fought off several long metal tentacles trying to grab him. He had never been very good at the direct approach, so why did he always end up taking it? He'd be the best thief on the planet if he could just stick with stealth and subterfuge, instead of always just rushing in like a hotheaded teenager.

He back flipped over a tentacle and threw a charged card which cut right through it. Two more tried to grab him but were knocked backwards when he spun his staff around quickly.

'I mean Jesus! Could I have picked a worse time? I thought Pyro would be on _my _side. And of all the days... _Today_ happens to be one of his bad ones.' One grapple hooked onto his left bicep. He launched a charged card to its base where it exploded. He pried the lifeless grapple off as another tentacle went after his right leg.

'Dammit Remy! Now Mags is gonna be pissed at you again. That's twice in two days! Are you trying to get yourself killed?' He viciously swung his staff down and shattered the grapple going for his leg. 'I **should** have stuck with subtlety. Would have taken a little longer, but at least it'd have worked. Now I'm gonna be following that kid's every order for sure. Like a maid!' He angrily flung a handful of cards at the base of three more tentacles that appeared, blowing them all to pieces. That was the last of the metal arms for the moment, and he took the opportunity to race towards the center of the training room.

'Why don't I just leave? It'd be a hell of a lot safer than staying here in this batshit outfit run by a madman training madmen.' He recalled his conversation with Magneto regarding his contract. 'Oh right. I "don't want to be caught in the middle."' The Cajun's speed apparently surprised whoever was in the command center, because he was racing over walls that climbed out of the floor before they became too high for him to jump. He snorted. 'Like I'd be caught at all. I'm the best there is.' Launching himself over one last wall he found himself in the middle of the room where he slammed his hand down on a raised pedestal, causing the session to end. 'When I don't get impatient and try to do the brute force thing that is. DAMMIT REMY! Why'd you have to go and do that?!'

Avalanche's voice came out from the walls of the room. "Good work," He said grudgingly, "Come up to the command center."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Remy walked into the command center, trying to cool down somewhat. He was sweating heavily all over, and knew how sore he'd get if he didn't go through a proper cool down workout after that exercise. Avalanche spun around in the main chair and greeted him. Fred and John weren't in the room.

"I need you to go down to the medical bay and check on Todd and Pietro. See if they're hungry or anything and if they are, get them something to eat. Make sure they stay off their legs. They're not supposed to move too much."

Gambit nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Good. When you're done, report back here and I'll have another session ready for you." Avalanche spun back to face the main computer and activated the microphone. "Same thing Pyro. Make it to the center." A jubilant shout accompanied the sudden orange light from the windows. Gambit smirked inwardly at the frustration Lance would have with the fire starter.

Remy turned and walked out the door, growling under his breath. He stomped down to the medical bay, his thick boots easily absorbing the shock. He tore open the door to Pietro and Todd's room, only to find both of them asleep. Well, that made things easy. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed one of several plastic serving trays the Brotherhood kept there. After putting two cups of water and several ham sandwiches on it he brought it back to the patients, only to find Pietro awake and staring vacantly at him. Remy sighed and tried to hide the scowl on his face.

"Hello Peetro, you want anything?"

Pietro's eyes narrowed as his face took on an ugly scowl. "It's Pee-ay-tro. What are you doing here anyway?" He indicated the tray Gambit still held.

"Avalanche made me come down here and make sure you guys had somethin' to eat."

Pietro grimaced then slowly shook his head before indicating that he wanted the water. He opened one of the pill boxes beside his bed and put a large white pill into his mouth before swallowing it with the water. "Don't mention food. I feel sick enough as it is. You said Lance made you come down here?" He questioned.

"Yeah. With him being second-in-command and all now I have to listen to him 'or else.'" Remy muttered darkly.

"WHAT?!!" Pietro's cry of outrage rang in the Cajun's ears. In the next bed over Todd moaned. Remy mentally slapped himself.

"I don't like it either." He said in a husky voice. "At the mission debriefing your pap said 'Avalanche is second-in-command' and surprised everyone."

Pietro shot up in his bed. "No! But, but-" He cut himself off and regained a small amount of his composure. "I thought that there was no second-in-command. _He_ said there wasn't one!" He hissed accusingly at Remy.

"Well there is one now." Remy responded before throwing his hands into the air. "And now we all gonna have to listen to him."

"But, but, argh, _DAMMIT!_" He looked over at Remy. "Get out!" Seeing the older mutant's bewildered face, he shouted again. "Look I don't need anything so just get out! Now!"

Remy contemplated remaining, if only to piss off Avalanche, but upon deciding that making Pietro mad would just result in him getting into even more trouble, left.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

When Remy arrived back in the command center he saw that Mastermind and Magneto had rejoined the rest of the Brotherhood there. Wanda was suspiciously absent. As he entered everyone turned to look at him. After a short awkward moment Avalanche spoke up.

"How were they?"

Remy checked to be certain that Magneto was waiting for an answer before replying. "Pietro's awake but Toad's still asleep. I brought them some water and sandwiches." He paused for a moment. Best to just get it out of the way now he reasoned. He brushed a strand of hair back before continuing. "I told him you were second-in-command. He didn't take it well." The swamp rat looked at Magneto with an apologetic look on his face. The leader of the Brotherhood shut his eyes and seemed to bite back a sigh.

"I'm not paying you for this week Gambit." He responded, his voice heavier than usual.

Remy bit back an excuse and just nodded.

"Now that we are all here," Magneto continued, "We can proceed." He took a breath before continuing. "As you all know, Wanda has never been a very stable individual. Mastermind helped her." Gambit just barely stopped himself from snorting at that line. Fred had a skeptical look on his face and both Lance and John had raised eyebrows. Gambit prided himself on not outwardly showing his disbelief. At least he still had more self-control than the others.

Magneto continued, "His work was interrupted when he first performed it, although he had accomplished enough that we thought there would be no problem. You all know that we changed her memories. Recently, Wanda began uncovering her original memories, which caused various conflicts with what we had shown her. Last night, this conflict came to a head and Mastermind and I were able to prevent any potential problems."

Magneto walked to the front of the room and turned around, his cape swirling behind him. "As of now, Wanda knows that Mystique impersonated me and put her into the asylum. She remembers her time in the asylum and also knows that I did everything in my power to find and free her. Her attitude change over the last several months is a result of this revelation. As of now, her behavior and attitude will likely be similar to what they were when she first joined the Brotherhood. Anything else regarding Wanda is on a need – to – know basis." Magneto's eyes began glowing orange under his dark helmet. "You all know not to inform her of this. Right now she is asleep in the dormitory. As far as she's concerned, and as far as you all are concerned, you had no training today. Do not tell her otherwise." The master of magnetism's shoulders slumped slightly and his eyes stopped glowing, signifying the end of his speech. "I will be in the medical bay with Quicksilver and Toad. Do not disturb us. Dismissed."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Magneto entered the medical bay with a slow step not often seen by those around him. He slowly shut the door behind him by hand, before turning to face his son. Pietro's eyes were red, and he coldly glared at his father. Magnus picked up a metal chair, again by hand, and sat it next to his son's bed. He slowly sat down in it. After resting for a moment, and being certain that Toad was actually asleep, he spoke.

"How are you feeling today Pietro?"

Pietro turned to look straight forward instead of at his father.

"You heard that I made Lance my second-in-command." He said softly. "Do you know why?" Pietro still didn't respond. Magnus took off his helmet and set it on the floor next to him. He sighed once. Pietro quickly glanced over, but looked away when Magneto tried to make eye contact.

"Lance Alvers is a capable young man. He could have been an adequate leader if he had been properly instructed." At this, Pietro did look over at his father, a hint of uncertainty showing on his face. "Could have been, Pietro. You, of all people, understand my need for a lieutenant. Somebody to lead when I am absent or busy. Did you know that you were my first choice?" Magnus watched his son's eyes slightly widen.

"Then why didn't you pick me?!" Pietro shouted, sitting upwards and jostling his leg. He winced, and reached for the pill bottle. Magneto put a hand on his son's arm to stop him.

"Calm down Pietro. Have you had one of those already today?"

"One."

"You're faster than I thought." A wry smile appeared on Magnus' face. "Wait until I've said my piece before having another. They're dangerous, and addictive." He continued speaking where he left off. "Of all the mutants in the Brotherhood, you and Avalanche were my only options to become second-in-command. Pyro is unfit for obvious reasons. Wanda as well." Magnus paused after this comment. "Toad lacks leadership skills, as does Blob. Gambit, Mastermind, and Sabretooth are all mercenaries working by contract."

Pietro nodded, suddenly understanding where his father was going with this.

"That left you and Avalanche. I think we can both agree that you'd be better at the job than him." Another small smile appeared on the older mutant's face. Pietro nodded slowly, skepticism clouding his pale face.

"You know what the people in this organization are like." Magnus' voice began rising. "They need strong leadership and discipline to keep them in line. A strong, clear chain of command was needed. I had to pick somebody. And _then_, you were shot." He paused. "You were injured Pietro. Can you imagine how it'd look if something were to happen to me and the person left in charge was injured? The others would give you no respect at all." Pietro opened his mouth but was cut off. "You must **earn** respect Pietro. Simply being my son isn't enough." A frown appeared on the speedster's face. "You were injured, and Avalanche performed well. I _had_ to show that I reward those that do well. That's not to say that you did not, but you were injured Pietro! I couldn't pick you. Promoting Avalanche showed the others that by doing their jobs well they can earn my respect and obtain a more important position in this organization. Do you understand?" Magnus asked desperately.

"Yeah. I guess so." Pietro answered, eyes downcast.

Magneto smiled. "Listen, Pietro. You and I both know that Avalanche is more suited towards being a field commander than being in charge of the Brotherhood. He lacks vision. If he were in charge, this brotherhood would sit around all day eating snacks and watching television." He spit out this last sentence in disgust. "That's why I have something to ask you Pietro," he whispered.

His son suddenly perked up and began listening intensely.

"You realize that all of my equipment and bases and plans must cost a tremendous amount." Pietro nodded. Magneto leaned forward conspiratorially. "I would like to teach you where that money comes from. I want to teach you how to run the Brotherhood of Mutants. Let Avalanche be in charge for now." Magnus snorted at this. "I want to teach you _everything_. Then, when the time comes, **you** will assume the rightful place by my side. Avalanche will be blundering about, trying to maintain a grip on my holdings while you easily keep them under control. You'll know my plans, my projects, the locations of my bases. _Everything._" He leaned back. "I'd like you to consider it. Would you want that?" A hesitant, pleading looked crossed the older mutant's face.

Pietro leaned forward, grinning widely. "Of course father."

Magnus reached forward and grabbed his son's shoulder, shaking it gently in a friendly display. He smiled as well. "Excellent. We'll begin in a few days, when I feel like your leg is healed enough to move around the base with it. I have to go now and monitor the others. I'll send someone to check in on you in a few hours." He bent down and picked up his helmet before placing it on and magnetically opening the door and moving the chair back.

As he walked away from his son he let a small grin appear on his face.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N:** I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this fic so far. As always, I appreciate all reviews, and I value any and all suggestions and constructive criticism. If I ever start making a character go off track please let me know what you thought was wrong or OOC. I'll see what was wrong and correct it, or explain myself. In addition, any spelling and grammar errors that I make will be corrected if I am informed about them. Thanks for reading!

Of note: Gambit's use of "Peetro" was intentional. He said it that way to annoy Pietro.

Lastly, I have a request. If anyone has some advice or comments on writing Evo Gambit's accent then I would very much appreciate it. Any appropriate adjectives I could be employing, proper spelling of some basic words that he uses, and general phrases that he either uses or that seem to fit him would be wonderful. As I said, Evo Gambit preferably, although context and descriptions that people feel make up his character in general work fine as well. I'm not particularly good at writing accents, so I would appreciate the help. Thanks!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 25**

Lance grumbled as he walked into what Pyro had called the "game room." It was yet another partially empty storage room, with a folding table and chairs set up in it. He dropped a pile of about ten books that Magneto gave him to read onto it. He had no idea what most of them were about, but his boss had made it clear that he was to read them all, and quickly. It looked like he wouldn't have a free moment for the next month or two.

Lance sighed as he looked at the book on top of the pile. 'Commentarii de Bello Gallico. What the hell is this?'

It wasn't like he _couldn't_ read. In fact, he could read fairly well. He just didn't like to read for pleasure. As far as he could remember, he never liked to read much. Now though, if he wanted to stay as the second – in – command of the Brotherhood of Mutants, then he had to read – a lot. He picked up the book on top of the pile – Magneto had told him to read it first. 'The Beginner's Guide to Chess. What, am I supposed to learn how to play that game?'

The young mutant stripped the shoulder guards and helmet off his uniform and slid out of the top half of it, letting it hang behind him, the steel gauntlets resting on the floor. After slouching slightly in the seat to make himself more comfortable, he opened the book up.

Nearly two hours later he was ready to give up and head to the training room, to try and exercise his frustration out. Not run a simulation – his head already hurt enough, he didn't plan on using any powers – but to do some lifting and such. There wasn't much else he could do unless he wanted to watch T.V., and the earth shaker had a feeling that if Magneto saw him doing that instead of reading he'd get in trouble. He would have to find someone to spot him, and there weren't too many choices with Pietro and Todd hurt.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda walked out of the bathroom still feeling slightly confused. For some reason she was in a much worse mood than she had been lately, and she couldn't think of anything that might have caused it.

'Other than Gambit. Throwing us out into those Sentinels. He'd better not try that kind of thing again – or else.'

The other thing that left her feeling confused was that it was nearly eleven in the morning and nobody had woken her up to train earlier. The already vulnerable mutant felt left out, left behind because she was 'too weak.'

'I still haven't proven myself to father. He doesn't even think I'm worth training. At this rate I'll never get revenge on Mystique...' The Scarlet Witch's disconsolate thoughts shifted as rage rose in her, boiling up from some well deep inside. 'I **will** get my revenge. She locked me away, and SHE MUST PAY!' Several lights in the ceiling burst as her hands tightened into fists. As shards of glass rained down, she forced herself to calm down, and took several slow, deep breaths.

'Calm down Wanda. Remember what Agatha Harkness taught you. Focus your anger. Control it.' She suddenly remembered that Harkness had been working for Mystique. The young witch just barely clamped down on her powers before they could cause more damage, and stood stock still for a moment, trying to control her temper. She took several minutes to clear her mind and calm down again. Resolving not to think about Mystique, the dark haired mutant headed to the door of the dormitory with the intent of finding out why nobody had taken her to training earlier. The door opened just before she reached it and Lance stood before her, blocking the exit. He blinked.

"Um. Hi. You wanna be my spotter while I go lift?" He asked.

Wanda found that her anger, which had been so tremendous and strengthening moments before, fled from her in a heartbeat, retreating back inside somewhere. She stammered, trying to collect her thoughts at this sudden shift in temperament. Lance gave her a questioning look as she struggled to respond.

"You okay?"

Wanda identified the question easily and found a simple rote answer, memorized by nearly everyone as they grew up. It provided an anchor for her sudden confusion, and she latched onto it, regaining control and composure.

"I'm fine."

"Okay." The older mutant replied slowly, looking at her with an authoritative, almost judging, expression. "Well, do you want to ?"

"What?"

"You want to be my spotter while I go lift?" He responded, hiding his exasperation.

A perfect way to eliminate her perceived weakness. Of course she'd go. "Sure."

A smile broke the lines in Lance's face. "Great. Let me change out of this uniform and I'll meet you down there. Thanks."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Rioting began in Oklahoma City today as the mutant known as the Juggernaut was spotted forty miles south of the Kansas border. The public has demanded that -" Click.

"Not only has the Juggernaut been spotted in northern Oklahoma, but in southern California, the small town of Lebec was gripped by terror when a local girl began firing some sort of 'heat ray' from her eyes. Five people are reported dead and twelve more are in the hospital. Authorities say that the situation has been contained, but no further information is available." Click.

"More mutants are popping up all the time! Something **has** to be done about it!" Click.

"Well, I saw him walking along about two miles north of where I was at the time, and he just acted like he owned the place. At the time I didn't realize that he was the Jugg-" Click.

The television Fred wheeled in earlier died as Pietro put the remote down.

"That's wack man. Nothin' on but us." Toad said.

"Yeah, well, what did you expect? They hate us."

"I dunno. It's, it's not right. They shouldn't act like that."

"You got that right. That's why father made the Brotherhood. They're going to start a war against us Toad. We have to fight back if we want to survive."

The two mutants sat quietly for a minute before Pietro spoke again.

"Hey Toad. When I was leading, was I really that bad?"

Todd paused for a moment, contemplating his answer. "Yeah man. You were a real jerk."

Pietro leaned back into his pillow, his face glum. It took a moment before he quietly mumbled his response. "Sorry."

Todd looked at his white haired friend, deciding if he honestly was apologetic. He shrugged. "S'alright man. We're cool."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda struggled against the weight of the bar she held above her chest. Lance loomed above her, ready to catch it if her arms gave out. She was on her last set.

"Come on Wanda, four more!"

Her arms shook slightly as she pushed the bar up slowly, trying to keep it balanced.

"Three more, then you're done. Come on, I know you can do it." Lance encouraged as she lowered the barbell again.

Up again, though slower this time, and the right side went up before the left.

"Just two more. Keep it up."

Sweat was beginning to soak uncomfortably into the neck of her red shirt. She grunted and bounced the bar off her chest. Her arms nearly gave out as she leveled it out.

"Last one! Last one. Give it all you got!"

She let the bar nearly fall onto herself, slowing it just enough not to hurt when it landed on her chest. Then, slowly, she raised it, again the right side rising higher than the left. She tried to level out, but the weight was too much and the bar began coming back down. She grunted, trying to force it back up. After a moment of hesitation, the bar finally began raising again. She pushed it up as far as her arms could reach, and racked it back into place. The young mutant let out the rest of her air quickly and let her arms collapse on her chest.

Lance smiled down at her. "One hundred and five pounds. You're improving." He reached out his hand and pulled her to her feet.

"It's not enough." Wanda muttered under her breath.

"Not enough? What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, surprised.

"I need to be stronger."

"Why?"

"For father to think..." Her voice trailed off.

"To think what?" Lance questioned, his expression turned serious.

"It's not important." She shook her head.

Lance looked directly at her, making steady eye contact. "Wanda, if something is bothering you, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

The younger mutant hesitated, looking carefully into his eyes. She looked down as she spoke. "I–. I want father to be proud of me. To think I'm not worthless."

Lance almost laughed at the absurdness of that thought. Luckily Wanda was still looking down, so she couldn't see the smile on his face. He quickly suppressed it. He put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him, questioningly. "Listen. I can't speak for your father, but I'm second – in – command, remember? And _I _don't think you're worthless. I'm sure he doesn't think you are either."

"But," She paused. She had already revealed how she felt about her father to the rightful second – in – command, and was ready to burst now that the floodgates had opened. "He thinks I'm weak."

Lance's brow furrowed. "Where'd you get that idea?"

She suddenly brushed him off. He didn't understand. "Nevermind. I'm just being stupid." She turned away from him and prepared to walk out of the room.

"Wait." He grabbed her shoulder again, and got his hand hexed for it, but she stopped. "Listen Wanda." He was going out on a limb here, but it didn't really matter since Magneto would probably never talk to Wanda about how he felt about her. "Your father does not think you're weak. Nobody here does."

She looked back over her shoulder at him. "You mean that?"

He answered seriously. "Yeah, I do." He saw that she relaxed, and he walked over and put an arm across her shoulders. "Let's go grab some lunch, then see how well we can trash the Danger Room. Together you and me will be head and shoulders above everyone else here."


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution.

**Chapter 26**

Lance bit back a sigh as he set the book down in front of him. He had essentially taken over the game room over the past five days since Wanda had been "fixed" again. Thanks to his schedule, he normally didn't have even a few free minutes during a day.

The second-in-command had training with the team in the mornings, then specialized solo training in the afternoon, and once that was done he would read until Magneto was finished running everyone else through their solo sessions. Once Magneto was done, he had to spend about two hours with his boss, who coached him on strategy while reviewing the training room sessions performed earlier that day. Afterwards he ate dinner before meeting with Magneto again in order to gain much needed experience interpreting data that Magneto supplied him, trying to see the connections between two seemingly unrelated events. Any spare time was spent reading.

Given his busy schedule he had only visited Todd and Pietro once since they had been placed in the med bay. He'd have liked to have stopped by more, but given the fact that he still had eight more books to read it didn't look like he'd have much of a chance to do so. The free moments he did have, such as during meals and just before going to sleep tended to be spent with Wanda, who seemed to be just as desperate for company as he was. They normally vented their problems to each other before he went back to reading or work and she went back to being bored.

The stressed mutant picked up the book, an extremely long and detailed instruction manual teaching how to operate nuclear fission reactors, and began reading again.

The door opened and Wanda walked in. She bit back a laugh at seeing his glazed expression shift from his book to her. He blinked a few times, trying to focus on this new party.

"Father just left for the rest of the day. He said he wouldn't be back until tonight. I figured you'd like to take a break." She answered before he could even begin questioning.

"Did you finish your training session?" He asked, mind still stuck in "leadership" mode.

"Yeah. Now put those books down and let's do something. You have **no** idea how bored I am." She responded, nearly pleading with him.

"Alright. Got anything in mind?" He got up and stretched, his back letting out numerous small cracks as he did so.

"Not really." She admitted.

"We _could_ duel each other in the danger room." He said seriously. Wanda stared at him for a moment stone faced. His lips cracked into a smile first and they both burst out laughing. Magneto had made it an official rule that the two of them weren't allowed to use their powers together in the base after their session in the Danger Room earlier that week.

"Let's kick everyone out of the rec room and watch a movie." She suggested.

"Well, if Magneto's really gone for the day, then we can just watch it in the computer room." Lance responded, a light smirk still on his face.

"Okay. I'll find a movie, you get some snacks." She said, trying to suppress a smile of her own.

"Snacks? We just ate like two hours ago." He countered.

Wanda's eyes narrowed just slightly. "And?"

Well, Lance couldn't refute _that_ kind of logic. "Okay. I'll meet you in the computer room."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The two mutants were halfway through _Scarface_ when the door burst open and Fred ran in, red faced and breathing heavily. Lance jerked in surprise before calmly pausing the movie, while Wanda jumped completely out of her chair and just caught herself from blowing up every monitor in the room.

Fred looked surprised to see them there. "I've been looking all over for you guys!" He wheezed. His panicked voice and expression made Lance spin out of his chair and draw himself up.

"What's wro-" He was interrupted by Blob.

"Something's wrong with Pyro! He's gone crazy!" Fred shouted.

"Where's he at and what's he doing?" Lance demanded.

"In the dorms. Gambit's with him. You just gotta' see!" Fred answered quickly, bending over slightly to try and catch his breath.

Lance threw a glance at Wanda who responded with a confused look of her own. He pushed past Blob and dashed to the dormitory.

The dormitory was not the disaster scene he expected. A few sheets were on the floor, but otherwise everything was in place. At the far end of the room Gambit was behind Pyro and had his arms locked around around him in a bear hug, pinning the orange haired mutant's arms to his sides. Pyro shouted obscenities and spun around into walls and bunks, trying to force the Cajun off.

Gambit saw Lance enter and shouted, "What de' hell took you so long!?" He grunted as Pyro slammed him into another wall.

"Fuck off Remy! I'll fucking kill you!" Pyro shouted, his voice alternating between an angry growl and a higher warble, while trying to work his arms free.

Lance ran over to the both of them and tried to pry them apart. "What is going on?!"

"Let go Lance! He's dangerous!" Remy shouted as he tried to maintain his grip.

Pyro raged and shouted out a stream of curses. He kicked out with his legs and caught Lance in the face, knocking him to the ground and splitting his lips.

Gambit took the opportunity to fall to the ground on top of Pyro and attempted to pin him while still holding his arms. Pyro began clawing at Gambit's legs to try and get him off.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERYONE!!" He kicked at the floor, trying to keep Gambit off him.

Lance recovered as Gambit looked up. "Get some rope! Or belts, or somethin'!" He ordered, trying to maintain his grip on the madman below him. Lance quickly ran to Gambit's locker and found it locked. He shook it open and began throwing clothes throughout the room as he searched for a belt.

Pyro managed to get an arm loose and spun around, to swing at Gambit. A vicious strike crushed the Cajun's nose and caused him to let go of the Australian who sprang to his feet in time to meet Avalanche, who had found two belts. He tackled the younger mutant and immediately had his arms grabbed before he could start punching.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" Pyro shouted, trying to bite at Lance's face.

Lance headbutted his opponent, stunning him for a moment, which gave Lance – an experienced grappler – the time he needed to roll Pyro over and pin his arms behind his back. Remy suddenly appeared beside him and tied the lunatic's arms together at wrist with one belt, and then his ankles with the other. The mutant struggled, but was unable to break free. Lance cautiously stood up, expecting a trick. After a few seconds to make sure Pyro was really bound he turned to Gambit. The Cajun had procured some tissues and was holding them to his nose, in an effort to staunch his bleeding.

"**What** is going on?" He demanded, moving threateningly towards the Cajun. Gambit attempted to answer but was cut off by another long chain of expletives from Pyro.

Gambit motioned for Lance to follow him and they walked to the other end of the dorm, where Fred and Wanda were standing, having watched the confrontation. Wanda's eyes were wide and she looked shaken. She was no doubt having flashbacks to her time in the asylum.

"You all know John idn't quide righd up here." Remy pointed to his temple. His voice was thick as he tried to talk despite sudden swelling. "Somedimes he jud' explodes like dis. Goes a liddle nudz." He moved one hand as if to gesture, 'What are you gonna do?'

"A _little_ nuts? He tried to fffricking kill us!" Lance responded. He had trouble pronouncing "F's". Pyro's kick had split his lips and blood ran down his chin.

"D'ink I don' know dat? He brode my node!" Remy responded.

Lance wiped his hand across his mouth to stop the blood from dripping to the floor. "Well how do we fffix him?"

"Godda led him burn sduff." Remy answered.

_"What?! _There's no way I'm effen(**1)** letting him _near_ a fffire right now. He's too dangerous!" Lance retorted, accidentally spitting blood into the air. "V's" were currently impossible. Wanda grimaced and stepped out of the room.

Remy's eyes were puffy, and he began having trouble seeing. Numerous red tissues littered the floor where he dropped them. "Blob, ged me a idepack." Fred nodded and quickly left to go find the requested item. "Id's de obly way!" He answered Lance. "Pud hib in de Dabger Roob. Id'll help."

"Doesn't he haff any medicine or something?" Lance asked, again wiping his mouth.

"Ya, bud I don know where id is." Remy answered. "I godda ged sobe ide. Have Blob helb you." Remy walked out the door, discarding several more tissues as he went. Lance shook his head, trying to decide what to do. He leaned out the door and motioned for Wanda to come in before walking down to Pyro.

The Australian was sobbing miserably, trying to slip out of his bonds. "I _hate_ you all so much," he said through a running nose. "GOD! I just want everyone to DIE!"

Lance crouched and put an arm on Pyro's shoulder, but it was immediately bucked off.

_"DON"T TOUCH ME!"_

Wanda knelt down beside the rock tumbler and looked at Pyro, who refused to so much as face them. Lance wiped his chin again and spit blood onto the floor.

"We'll take him to the Danger Room. See ifff Remy's right and ifff a fffire will calm him down. 'Bout all we can do right now."

Fred returned shortly and picked up John, who screamed and sobbed and fought every second of the trip to the training room. Once Fred laid him down he exited the room along with Wanda and Lance and went up to the control center. Lance activated several flamethrowers and Pyro immediately stopped crying and screaming upon seeing the flame. After a brief moment he made the flames burn the leather belts holding his ankles and wrists back, but then just sat quietly and watched the fire spew forth.

"I haff to get some ice too. You two both watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything crazy. I'll be back in a bit." Lance stated as he exited the room.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**(1)effen - even**

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

**A/N:** Ah. This is a risky chapter since I have **zero** experience with pyromaniacs. I did as much research as I could on the subject, but there isn't much online and even less at my local library. I do however, have some firsthand experience with people suffering from anti-social personality disorders and mood/personality disorders. In the cases I saw, nobody acted _quite_ as violent as Pyro did here, but I imagine that they easily could have, especially if someone fought to restrain them, like happened here. Now, from what I understand about Pyromania, it's normally accompanied by anti-social personality disorder as well any number of other things, such as bipolar disorder, possible schizophrenia, dementia etc... This makes me think that Pyro, who would have had poor treatment in the first place, as well as having been _encouraged_ to start fires in order to relieve his tension rather than learning to deal with it in an acceptable way, would not be the happy person as is commonly seen in other fics. I have never met person with a mental disorder that was happy , so I really didn't want to take that route, especially since I feel that Pyro would not be very happy. It isn't a good feeling to be consumed by an obsession, and I can only imagine that his feelings swing every which way in the environment he is in.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I would desperately like some feedback on this chapter. It's a shot in the dark for me, and I can only hope that I did it well. Anybody that has first hand experience with Pyromania and other mental disorders, I welcome any advice you can give. Thanks for reading, and I always appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. Any continuity, spelling, and grammar errors I would also appreciate to be pointed out. (Exceptions for characters speech aside )


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 27**

Lance added three more robots to the simulation. Below him, in the training room, Pyro was laughing deliriously as he torched the remains of a holographic city. His expression turned hostile as the three bots all took the appearance of the black soldiers the Brotherhood had faced on their first mission. Then, in a flash of heat and light a giant flame serpent soared down from the sky and swallowed all three, causing the robots to collapse to the floor and smolder. Pyro turned his attention to a nearby building and began yet another round of laughter as his serpent rushed into it through a window and began burning the place down.

After checking the battery power left in the hologram projectors and the significantly depleted ranks of training robots Lance decided that Pyro was finished and ended the session. The Australian mutant let out a mournful moan as the buildings retracted into the ground and the holograms faded.

"Aw, mate, why'dja end it already?" He called upwards.

Lance replied through the speaker system. "You feeling better now?" He had a bandage across his upper lip, hoping that he wouldn't need stitches to avoid a look-alike case of cleft palate and had kept a bag of ice pressed up against his mouth long enough to suppress any swelling.

John's expression turned dark and he shut his flamethrowers off. "I'm fine." He said tensely.

"Alright. I've got some cleanup to do and have to take care of some stuff up here. Take a break for tonight." Lance responded in his authoritative voice.

John looked down and muttered something Lance didn't catch. The Australian kicked a charred piece of shrapnel out of the way as he headed for the locker rooms.

Once John had walked out of the Danger Room Lance initiated the self cleaning sequence and made sure that everything was running alright before leaving the command center to check on everyone else. When Pyro had calmed down both Fred and Wanda had left the room, leaving Lance alone to monitor him. He had activated a light session at the madman's request three hours earlier, and steadily increased the difficulty of the sessions John was in until he realized, or suspected rather, that it wasn't fire that brought out the fire starter's laughter – It was destruction.

A quick run through a holographic city confirmed his guess and left John laughing like the maniac he was.

Now, three hours after the firebug's breakdown, Lance had deemed him safe to be allowed back in the rest of the base. He figured Pyro would either go get some sleep or leave everyone alone after earlier. In addition, playing with fire seemed to have relaxed him enough that he'd be able to control himself.

'Now to find the others. I hope somebody is with Wanda. She looked pretty freaked earlier. Maybe Fred picked up on that and – Who am I kidding? Fred wouldn't know how to comfort someone if his life depended on it. Not that that's his fault though.' Lance scowled as he thought of the way humanity had treated the larger boy when he was growing up. 'Poor guy never even got a hug without getting pushed away.'

The earth shaker made his way to the med bay, intent on finding Gambit first. He needed to check to see if the Cajun would be alright, as well as question someone about Magneto's exact words before leaving in addition to confirming that he had indeed taken Mastermind with him. And if he had taken Mastermind then Lance planned on going back to the computer room which he would have to clean up from his and Wanda's movie anyway and check whether or not they had both taken Amara with them. Not that it was any of his business. But he was second-in-command and felt like he should know what was going on.

Then he needed to make sure that Wanda wasn't on the verge of having a breakdown herself, which unlikely though it may be, was still a possibility. Then he had to make sure that John wasn't ready to freak out again, and _then_ he had to check on Pietro and Todd and fill them in on the events of the day if nobody else had yet. And sometime he had to figure out what to say to Magneto when his boss returned.

And when that was all done, he still had more reading to do.

Sometimes being in charge wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Gambit was reclined in a bed he had had Fred drag into Toad and Pietro's room. He had a splint on his nose and an icepack nearby which he reapplied every hour or so in order to keep the swelling down. In addition he had taken one of Pietro's painkillers. The suave Cajun was currently doing his best to keep from acting like a happy idiot in front of Toad, Pietro, and Fred, who were all in the room with him. It was fairly cramped, but Remy didn't intend on moving any time soon, and he felt like having some company instead of laying around alone, while doped up on painkillers.

"I love this show." Pietro said simply, his focus locked onto the television which began playing some medical drama Remy had never seen before. Fred, sitting in a chair he had dragged in, nodded in agreement.

The Cajun looked over to Toad, who was completely absorbed in some large yellow textbook. "Whatcha readin' Todd?" Remy asked eagerly, inwardly cursing at his lack of self control before realizing he didn't care about his image. He then cursed his lack of caring before realizing he didn't care about his own opinion, which made him curse at- The Cajun cut off his train of thought before it could get any more convoluted.

Toad answered without even looking upwards. "_Advanced Idea Mechanics_. It's pretty cool stuff man."

"Like what?"

"All sorts of things dude." Toad answered, not even bothering to focus on the attention he was receiving.

Remy rolled his eyes at the answer before sitting back to watch the television. The ladies on the show were pretty hot.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Magneto walked away from the medical bay, where now Todd, Pietro, _and _Remy resided. Seeing that no one was around he sighed as he reviewed what had happened while he was gone. He had arrived back at the base with Mastermind and Amara at midnight. He had been running Gambit through a solo training exercise when Mastermind entered the command center and proclaimed that Amara was now stable enough to be of use to him. Upon hearing the news, he had immediately left the base in order to further the construction of Asteroid M. Magma's ability to psionically control molten rock and merge the shattered pieces of the asteroid together was crucial to its reconstruction. Mastermind had been brought along as insurance should the girl have somehow freed herself from his mental conditioning. After spending the better part of nine hours in Antarctica, he had returned and found Lance in need of stitches, Remy with a broken nose, and heard that Pyro had lost it – again. Apparently Gambit and Avalanche had subdued the maniac and afterwards Avalanche successfully managed to calm him down.

It was frustrating though, for Magneto to leave on what should have been a quiet day to return and find one of his key team members injured and another too unstable to use in any mission for the present time. The Brotherhood was already lacking in power with the loss of Creed and the injury of Quicksilver and Toad. Even with Creed and an uninjured Pietro and Todd it wouldn't have been able to go toe to toe with the X-men, and currently it wouldn't even be able to slow them down.

The master of magnetism went to the holding cells, intent on having Mastermind finish the last of Amara's resocialization process. He needed every mutant he could get, no matter whether they were honestly loyal to him or not.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda opened her eyes, stuck in that half state between waking and sleeping where dreams are most vivid. She dimly registered that the clock at the foot of her bed was showing 5:45, so she shut her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. In the past week however, she had randomly stopped at having mysterious nightmares about the asylum and been getting a lot more rest than she was used to, so she wasn't particularly tired. Her thoughts drifted to her teammates, specifically focusing on the one that slept three beds to the left and across from her. The Scarlet Witch tried not to show it, but she had been thinking about him **a lot** more than usual lately. More than she had even back at the boarding house. She blamed the close proximity forced upon the team by their recent confinement to the base, but that didn't help stop her from feeling so strongly towards him.

She could identify why she felt that way of course. She was an average teenage girl, which meant she essentially was little more than a big meat bag filled with hormones. _Someone_ had to occupy her thoughts when she was alone. It was just that her fantasies of being with someone normally only included people she knew less than half the time, and the rest of the time was spent with some made up perfect wonder guy. Now though, one individual in particular had beaten her perfect wonder guy down and firmly shoved him out of the premiere spot in the mind.

And Wanda had no idea what to do about it.

Her formative years spent locked away meant that she had precious little experience to draw upon, and her time spent out had been in the company of four unsupervised males. Of course, once mutants were outed, her brother was gone and nobody would date a mutant, so she was at a loss as to how to approach the subject. The only real knowledge she had, other than information gleaned from one of her counselors, was Lance's side of his on and off relationship with Kitty.

Wanda didn't like Kitty.

There were two individuals in the base that she could ask for help though. And since this was the Brotherhood, you could buy anyone's silence, so that wasn't a problem. Of course, if her brother threatened to talk, she'd just hex his skin off.

Of course, _he_ might not feel the same way about her.

And that was the real problem. Which was why she needed to ask for help. Not that she needed help. Wanda Maximoff didn't ever need help. But she liked to have it. Because she didn't want to be alone. Again. Ever. Like she was in the asylum.

So it was settled. Sometime that day, Wanda would ask her brother for help, and if he refused, she'd buy advice from someone.

Wanda shut her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. She knew she wouldn't have the guts to talk to her brother about it. And she knew that she wouldn't have the guts to talk to anyone else, no matter how sure she was that she could keep them quiet. But she promised herself that she would do so every day anyway. And everyday she felt more and more strongly and everyday she broke her promise.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The Brotherhood of Mutants was gathered in the medical bay, in the operating room, which was the largest open area nearby. Pietro and Todd were both present, Pietro on crutches and Todd in a wheelchair. Everyone else stood, although they had all put been careful to Fred between them and John. Magneto stood in the center of the semicircle made by the mutants, preparing an announcement. Once Todd had finished wheeling in and parked, he began.

"In one week we will all perform our second mission together." Unlike the first mission announcement, no one was surprised here. "It will be similar to the first we all undertook. Another sentinel factory, again in Canada, again isolated. And again, Gambit will be going in first to try and obtain data relevant to our cause." He paused for a brief moment before continuing. "Unlike last time I will be joining you from the outset. In addition, we have a new recruit to help us." Magneto waved his hand at a closed door on the far side of the operating room. It opened to reveal Amara, standing in a black uniform similar to the one she wore with other new recruits, save that it lacked X's and color. She stepped out from the room she had been standing in and walked forward to stop next to Magneto, standing nervously as she looked at the surprised and skeptical faces of those gathered.

"Hello. My name is Alison. I can change into living magma."


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 28**

Todd sighed in contentment as Gambit left the room. The older mutant had spent the night in a different part of the Med Bay and spent most of the morning with him and Pietro instead of training. The night before had been hectic, and people had been in and out of his and Tro's room all morning so he hadn't had a moment alone. But once normal morning training ended Magneto had come in and asked Pietro to come help him with something.

The amphibious mutant reached down beside his bed and picked up a bundle of paper stapled together. He had kept it hidden inside the text book Fred had gotten for him. He flipped through the bundle until he got to the page he had left off on. The bold title at the top proclaimed **Transmitting Your Video Data Wirelessly**.

He may not be able to move around the base freely with his bum leg, but that wouldn't stop him from seeing Wanda.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Pietro sat in a chair next to his father in the computer room. He had never realized just how boring this would be! Magnus had been going over every single company he had invested in and the details of every one of his **fifteen** bank accounts, and constantly quizzed Pietro on the names of people that were important to remember. The speedster would have left after only five minutes of the torture if that didn't mean he wasn't cut out to become the **real** second-in-command. And he had to pay attention constantly! Didn't his father know how hard it was to concentrate when it felt like every word had a ten second pause between them?

The pale mutant hid a sudden scowl that threatened to appear on his face. **Magneto** probably did know that it was hard for him to concentrate and was testing him, trying to get him to screw up and prove that he couldn't handle the mundane day to day tasks of running a secret paramilitary organization. Well, he'd show his father that not only could he handle it, but that he could do it faster and better than everyone else.

His father finished taking a small breath and began his next sentence, requiring the speedster to concentrate again.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Freedom! Sweet, sweet, glorious freedom! Well, as glorious as it could be while he was on crutches. His father had _finally _finished lecturing and dismissed him after two hours. Two hours of nonstop lecture. Lecture about things that Pietro really didn't care about. He didn't want to have to run his father's business empire or manage his finances or anything like that. He just wanted to be in charge. He wanted his father to realize how useful he was and how important he was to the Brotherhood. He wanted everyone to recognize how incredible he really was.

Because he was incredible. Nobody – **Nobody** on the entire planet was as patient as him. Nobody else had the self control that he had. Nobody else was as gifted in so many areas, and no other mutant that Pietro knew of looked as good as he did either. If he had been able to put up with boring interviews and hours of photo shoots he could have been a male model. And he worked, to a degree at least, to keep his appearance. He washed his face and combed his hair everyday and made sure to jog regularly. Not everybody did that. Plus, what other power could even compare with super speed? Nobody was his match and nobody could ever hope to be. It did suck from time to time when he realized that there were zero people that could relate to what it was like to be him, but whenever he felt that way Pietro simply reminded himself that it was lonely at the top. And he refused to be drug down by anyone. **Anyone**. Even if that person dragging was his father or sister. Yeah, they were both important to him, but Pietro didn't _really_ care that deeply about them. Sure, he would save their lives (And he had) when they were in danger but he was dead set against moving out of position number uno.

The speedster made his way back to the medical bay, intending to catch some television for a while. He would have spent the day in the rec room except that it was really noisy in there and to be honest Pietro found his teammates and friends annoying. Coupled with that was the fact that his leg still hurt **a lot**. He forced himself to only take one painkiller in the morning and one in the evening, (Another example of his amazing self control) but they never lasted long enough. If he spent the day in the rec room it was inevitable that someone would run into his foot or leg and make it hurt more than necessary. It didn't hurt all the time, and it didn't even hurt that badly. Well, actually it did. There was no way to really describe it. Pietro felt more pain from his leg than he had ever felt from the rest of his body combined throughout his entire life. But, it was a weird pain. His bones ached and muscles throbbed, but in general you could run a hand along the cast and he wouldn't feel anything. You could even tap it fairly hard and it wouldn't hurt. Someone kicking his leg as they tripped over it or slamming into it as they rounded a corner resulted in a few brief moments of excruciating agony for the fair teenager though.

Hence, why he was headed to the med bay. People came down to check on him and Toad a few times a day, but not enough to bother him, and with his leg rested firmly on the center of his bed nobody was able to run into it. Plus, the only person he had to argue with about what show to watch was Toad and he always ended up winning those arguments. It was one of the few arguments he could win around the base. Going up against Wanda, Lance, or Pyro tended to be hazardous to your health if you made them mad enough. And Gambit was creepy. The Cajun had a remarkable intuition about what people were going to say or do next and he was always one step ahead of the Pietro. Pietro! Somehow, the mostly normal mutant was able to stay ahead of the fastest being alive. Therefore, Pietro had labeled Gambit as creepy. Which wasn't to say the guy wasn't a blast to hang out with. Older, smooth, and suave, the Cajun effortlessly seemed to define the image of "cool" into the younger mutant's mind. Not that he would ever say it, but Pietro kept trying to emulate the relaxed, casual air that the Swamp Rat had.

Pietro entered his room just in time to see Todd put his text book down and turn on the television. The younger of the two glanced over at Pietro nervously before turning back and changing the channel.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Fred was actually having a pretty good time for once. Ever since he had first come to the base he had felt somewhat left out, but with Alison around he had someone to hang out and talk with. Even more importantly though, she seemed to enjoy spending time with him, which was all too uncommon for most people Fred knew. He always felt like a third wheel or like another person was unwillingly taking time out of their day to do anything with him. That had all changed with the Brotherhood though. He and Todd had become really good friends, and both enjoyed the other's company. Fred still occasionally felt as though Lance or Pietro disliked his presence, but that was a rarity and he considered both of them as some of his closest friends. Wanda, on the other hand, was a spoiled bitch as far as Fred was concerned. He may have difficulty controlling his temper, but he always did his best to make a good first impression and he at least tried to be nice to people – when it mattered. Once he made up his mind that somebody wasn't worth trying to impress or befriend the heavy set mutant ended all pretense and was more than willing to bully them if needed.

With Alison, Fred actually felt like an equal, which was fairly rare. The only other person that he ever really felt that with was Todd. He had the feeling his and Todd's duo would probably become a trio with the girl adding some much needed intelligence and life to their small group. Last night she and him had just 'clicked' and things had gone well from there. Magneto had told the rest of the Brotherhood to show the girl around and make her feel at home, and nobody had at all other than Fred. Remy muttered a hello, as did Fred, but the others all given the girl the cold shoulder. So, it had fallen to the heavy mutant to show her around the base and explain how things worked to her. She came off as fairly intelligent and even somewhat bubbly, a sharp contrast to his mostly dour team members. Before he even knew it he had shown nearly the entire base to the younger girl and the two of them had grabbed snacks before watching the _Star Wars_ films with John – the man had an inexplicable liking for the movies and regularly watched them all.

Alison had picked a bed near Fred's, and gone to train with the rest of the team sans Remy, Todd, and Pietro. And, he had surprised both himself and everyone else when he defended her after Lance came down on the girl for attacking prematurely. Lance was rarely as vicious as he was that morning, but the large burn scars on his left arm were a permanent reminder of the rock tumbler's solo battle with her when they had first moved to the base. The older mutant caught himself when Fred spoke up, and didn't say anything more to the Brotherhood's newest recruit other than terse orders that morning.

She had had a short solo training session with Magneto after the group session, and then Lance had lead the rest of the solo sessions that morning as Magneto left to perform other tasks. Once both Fred's and Alison's sessions were done they had grabbed lunch they had been watching television together since.

And **so what** if she had once been named Amara and been an X-man? She was _his_ friend now.

**IIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

** A/n: ** Ugh. This is another one of those chapters that I am just not satisfied with. It's gone through more revisions than I can count and been completely rewritten three or four times now. Writing Pietro is difficult for me, as getting into his head isn't something I can do very well. Also, reading his sections are always somewhat painful since I intentionally leave the rougher than the rest of my fic in order to help capture the speedsters pace and general state of mind. I think it's more important to try and keep within his character than have nicely written sentences and grammar, and it's always frustrating to see my best not be good enough to perform both.

Of note: Todd, Pietro, and Fred are all going to be getting a lot more focus in later chapters, so I hope you enjoy them. As always, all comments and constructive criticism are appreciated.


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 29**

Wanda cringed at Avalanche's chastisement of Magma. Beside her, Gambit seemed interested in the ceiling and Fred looked torn between arguing with Lance and avoiding notice. Pyro looked on eagerly at the admonishment.

The younger mutant performed well in most training sessions, but her unfamiliarity with the rest of the team tended to cause problems every so often. Just now she had decided to help Gambit with a pair of robotic soldiers which caused her to miss seeing another troop preparing to fire an RPG. One of Wanda's hexbolts slammed into the man and shut the robot down before he could fire however. Whether it was intentional, or luck, or shear coincidence that made her hit the man she hadn't seen Wanda didn't know. It was frustrating not to know how much what you did came from yourself and how much came from your powers.

Lance finished his lecture and backed away from the younger girl. He walked away to the other side of the room to reset the session, not seeing the looks that passed between the team. Fred walked over to Alison and put a hand on her shoulder. She seemed ready to cry.

"What is up with him? He doesn't come down on anyone else this hard!" Fred angrily whispered to the others. Pyro had a suppressed smile on his face, but was beaming otherwise. Wanda had no answer for the way her leader acted, other than the fact that he might be harboring some anger over nearly being burned to death by her.

Gambit answered with a sly look on his face. "I think I might know. I get the feeling Alison here doesn't though."

She shook her head. "Why does he hate me?"

"Oh, he doesn't hate you. I'm sure of that." Remy responded, a not bothering to hide a smirk.

"What do you mean? Why's he so mean to me?" Alison whispered. Lance was angrily punching controls in the wall on the other side of the room.

"Trust me on this. Ol' Remy's got it figured out." Gambit responded mysteriously.

"So are you going to tell us?" Fred asked, loudly enough for Lance to hear.

"Not yet."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Mission number two was in two days. Lance was frantically trying to prepare the shorthanded team for it as best he could. For some reason Magneto had seemingly deserted him for the the preparation and had been spending a significant amount of time with Pietro in the computer room lately. Lance had no idea what _that_ was about, but he didn't really have any time to think on it too much. At present, he had himself, Amara (her name was **not** Alison!), Fred, Wanda, Remy, and John. Magneto had mentioned in his extremely short briefing that he would be acting on the mission as well, which might explain his employer's seeming lack of care about how the team was prepared. The most powerful mutant in the world had a right to be confident about himself.

In spite of this, Lance did not feel as confident as Magneto. He had zero intelligence on the base they were about to attack, so he had no idea what the best way to assault it would be. With Remy's help he had drawn a rough map of the base they had attacked, hoping that the layout of this second one would be similar. Infiltrating this next base would be difficult though, since it had probably been warned to watch for two mutants masquerading as amorous teenagers and was prepared to handle them. Another problem he had was that Mastermind had formally been taken off 'active duty' and was no longer working with the Brotherhood. The telepath simply hadn't been seen one day and nobody knew he was even gone until Lance asked Magneto. With Mastermind out of the picture he would have to rely on Gambit's expertise in getting in and out of the base.

The problem with _that_ was that Remy was not operating at 100 percent effectiveness. His broken nose caused significant pain whenever his head was lower than his body and severely limited his acrobatic maneuvers. In addition, stopping too fast hurt him as well, such as in the manner of stopping when swinging from one building to another. Nobody else had infiltration skills other than Remy, which meant that Lance didn't have any other options other than sending him in and hoping for the best.

Once he had more time Lance resolved to have Gambit teach him how to properly sneak around in such places. His own experiences of running and hiding from police and angry neighbors didn't apply very well to sneaking onto a prepared military base.

The second in command of the Brotherhood sighed and looked down at his map again and began repositioning the team for the ten thousandth time. He wondered if Cyclops ever had to do this.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Toad? What are you doing?" The younger mutant let out a short yelp as Lance questioned him. He quickly placed a small duffel bag behind the wheelchair as he turned around.

"Nothing! I ain't doing nothing yo."

Lance raised an eyebrow at this. Toad was in the hall outside the dormitory, which was odd since he rarely left his room due to his leg. "What's in the bag?"

"What bag?" Todd responded nervously.

"The bag you tried to hide behind your chair." The brown haired mutant's eyes narrowed and he began walking over to Todd.

"This bag? It's, um, uh, laundry!"

"Laundry? The washer and drier are on the opposite side of the base." Lance interrogated.

Todd sighed, defeated. "Alright. You got me. It's shower stuff and soap. I was gonna clean myself up, for Wanda."

"You. Taking a shower. Voluntarily. I don't believe that for a second."

"I mean it! I figure, if I clean myself up maybe she'll see me in a new light." Todd said, batting his eyes in an unattractive way while trying to be charming.

"Right." Lance wasn't convinced but didn't really care what the younger mutant did as long as he stayed out of Lance's stuff. "If I come see you in forty minutes are you going to be clean?"

"Uh. Well. It might take a little longer with the cast you know?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"And Lance? Could you not let anyone come in and see me or know about this?"

Now _**that**_ was suspicious. Oh well. "Sure, whatever."

"Thanks Lance. You're the man." Todd wheeled away into the dormitory.

Lance stood back for a moment, mollified by that last comment. He _was_ the man. How had that happened? He shook his head. It didn't matter. He wasn't the same as The Man. He was just the guy in charge of the Brotherhood under Magneto.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"The problem, as I see it, is that we don't have enough manpower to divide us into two balanced teams. Magneto can handle himself, and is the only one of us that can fly, so anyone with him would just slow him down. And, it's not like any bullets or Sentinels can hurt him, so he doesn't need any support or assistance. That leaves myself, Wanda, you, _Alison_, Fred, and John." Lance said to Remy, while indicating a possible entry point on his map for the team to begin their assault. "If we do split into teams Magma should be with the Blob, since they're so friendly together. I don't think she'll perform very well without him nearby. Either you or me needs to lead them."

Remy interrupted. "Me. Magma's afraid of you." He said contemptuously.

Lance snorted. "Alright. That leaves me with Wanda and John. Now, I think we can count on John to be alright. If he does have some kind of breakdown then we're in trouble, but I don't think that'll happen. I get along with Pyro and Wanda alright."

Remy let out a short bark of laughter before stopping himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Keep going." Remy hid the amusement on his face.

"They don't like me?"

"Nothing. Just continue."

Lance suddenly felt very childish. He tried to think of a way to handle this maturely.

He failed. "Tell me."

Remy chuckled once again. "Oh, they like you alright."

"I don't see what's so funny."

"If I told you it'd interfere with the mission."

Lance scowled as he tried to figure out what Remy meant. Possible implications ran through his head. He resolved not to think about it until the mission was completed.

"Now, continuing, we should be alright assuming Pyro doesn't have a breakdown. The problem with splitting the team like this is that we have all our firepower and don't have Magma or Blob to take any hits for us."

"You're assuming that the teams are separated from each other across the base." Remy replied seriously.

"Given our performance last mission I think it's only reasonable."

"We were separated from the outset there. Here we'll be together unless we decide to split up. Anyway, myself, Blob, and Magma should be with you three since you're all going to be performing the demolition. We'll simply be providing support and cover fire."

"Let's hope it turns out that way. And all of this is assuming that you get in and come back out without any trouble. If you get captured I'm going to need to lead the others to come get you." Lance stated.

"I'll be fine. And you're assuming Magneto won't lead all of you during this." Remy responded.

"He hasn't been exactly...forthcoming about what he'll do during this."

"Trouble in paradise already Lancey?" Remy deadpanned.

"Fuck off 'red-eyes.'"


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 30**

The hanger ceiling opened revealing an early dawn sky as two metal spheres gently floated in and set down. After a brief moment an invisible seam split the top hemisphere of both in two, and the halves slid apart to reveal Gambit and Magneto. Gambit looked surprised to see Avalanche waiting impatiently near the door to the room.

"You been up all night?" The Cajun asked.

"Yeah. Do you have the photos?"

"I have them here." Magneto's steely voice answered. He held out a camera to Avalanche, who took it. "I will program new training room sessions for the Brotherhood based on what Gambit and I have seen. You go and examine the photographs. Find a suitable attack plan."

Avalanche nodded.

"And **I** will go get some sleep," responded Gambit as he headed for the door.

"Not yet. I need you to look at the photos with me. Help me recognize what each building is. Also, I need your infiltration path drawn on them."

Remy sighed and nodded. He followed Avalanche to the computer room as Magneto went to the command center to create new simulations for the team.

Five minutes after plugging the camera into the computer large aerial photographs of the compound were printing out. Lance haphazardly threw them on a small table that had been placed in the middle of the room.

"Oh man. This is all different!" He exclaimed. He grabbed a red marker that had been laying on the table and began marking on the pictures. Remy looked on, nonplussed. "Did you find a way to get in Gambit?"

The Cajun answered languidly. "Of course. The northwest corner has those storage sheds. There's no cameras and plenty of spots to hide."

"Alright. And where are you headed to?"

"Don't rightly know yet. These three larger buildings here look like they might be the same kind of false ones that were over the factory at the other base. I'll try to head there. However, it is possible that I won't find an entrance there. If I can't, I'll look for the commanding officer's room. I'm guessing that it's in here, at this larger structure." Gambit indicated a two story building that had a distinctive gothic flair the rest of the base lacked. Lance found a close up photo of the structure and laid it on the top of the other pictures.

"See how old it looks? The rest of this place could have been built in a month or two. Not that though. And if it's the oldest, it's the fanciest, so I'm guessing the person in charge stays there."

Lance cringed. "Not a _bad_ train of thought. But you could be wrong."

"I know, I know. To be honest though, I don't have a lot of options now do I?" Gambit said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay. Just looking at these, I think that..." The younger mutant trailed off as he examined the top down picture of the entire base. "I think that I just found where we're entering." He looked up with a gleam in his eyes. "See that structure on the eastern wall? I'll knock it down and we'll go in through the gap. With Pyro lighting the buildings on both sides up we can control how the guards get to us and move with Fred in the front. Then once we hit here-" Lance pointed to a spot of open ground on the picture in the middle of the base, "We'll just light everything on fire and head west to the other side. It's simple. It's easy. No room for confusion."

"You're forgetting the northern and southern ends of the base. Those buildings are too far apart to catch fire from the others. And you might want to start at the south. _That_-" Gambit pointed to a spot, "Is a runway. And that means those are hangars. And I think taking care of any aircraft should be our priority."

Lance sighed. "Damn. You're right." Gambit smirked and wore an expression as if to say "Of course." The rock tumbler continued. "We need Pyro and Blob on the eastern side if we take that route. Blob wouldn't be much good in the larger open areas near the runway. And I'd prefer that Magma stick with Fred for obvious reasons. And _I_ need to be up there to knock down the building that lets us get in that ideal alley. That leaves you and Wanda to take care of those hangars."

Gambit cut in. "I don't see that happening. Wanda's powerful, but her powers don't work too well on large things. She might make a mess inside of each place, but I don't see her knocking them down."

"That's why you'll be with her. You can just charge a wall or two and blow them up."

"My powers don't work like that. I can't control the charge to just one wall. Well, technically I can, but only by letting go before it reaches the rest of the building and then it might not be strong enough to blow the wall out. Plus, without me holding it it'll go off as soon as I let go and we don't want that." The Cajun explained, yawning loudly once he finished.

"Goddamit. You're just good for nothing aren't you?"

"Hey, I'm good for plenty. Just none of your crazy ideas. What if you sent Magma with me and Wanda? I know you'd prefer her to stick with Blob but..."

"That's no good. She isn't strong enough to knock down all the buildings or light them on fire the way Pyro can."

"She's living Magma. I guarantee she's hot enough to light nearly anything on fire."

"Yeah, but these hangars look like they're made of brick. Those ceilings are metal, probably supported by steel. And while I can speak firsthand of her ability to melt and burn steel, it takes her a while. Plus, do you really want her around jet fuel?"

Remy winced. "Good point."

Silence filled the room as Lance looked back at the photograph of the entire base, searching for another attack plan. Remy looked at him and bit back another yawn.

"Is Amara strong enough to knock down one building?" He asked.

"Maybe. Why?"

"Well, if she can, she could knock down that building on the east wall. And you could take the south with Wanda."

Lance quickly grasped the idea. "Yeah. Maybe. That'd leave you with Blob, Pyro, and Magma on the east side moving in."

"Which would be ideal. With Magma, we'd have another shield when moving in. And Pyro would have another source of fire to use. I could keep an eye out for any guards or soldiers, and they'd need me to stop any Sentinels they run into."

"But that leaves me and Wanda alone again. And we were really lucky last time not to have gotten shot or killed. I'd rather that we not push it." Lance said with a scowl on his face. Remy suddenly remembered why Wanda and Lance had been running from Sentinels the first time. He hid a grin.

"Whatever you say Avalanche. But while you find some other way in _I'm_ going to bed."

Lance mumbled something as he looked back at the photos and began scribbling.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Avalanche watched Magma attempt to shake a simulated building apart. After a minute had passed he stopped the simulation and walked over to the girl. She was laying down on a pose all too familiar to him when he first began using his powers to make earthquakes. He extended an arm and helped pull her to her feet once she finally grabbed it.

"I just can't do it!"

"I know." He replied in a masterly voice. She simply couldn't channel enough seismic energy to knock a well built structure down. There was enough in the ground, or in this case, the base, but she wasn't able to use enough of it.

"Then why do we even bother?" Alison's eyes were watering, but Lance knew it was more from a headache than from her attitude. She rubbed her temples.

"I hoped you would be able to. There is something we haven't tried yet."

"What's that?"

"You'll see. One minute." Lance brought a radio to his mouth and spoke into it. "Magneto can you come to the training room?"

"I'll be there in one minute." Magneto's deep rumble replied from the speaker.

Lance turned to Alison. "I'm going to channel seismic energy into you. More than you can absorb by yourself. What you need to do is control it and retain it for as long as possible. Then, when I tell you, use it in addition to the energy in the ground to try and take the building down."

Her eyes grew wide. "Have you ever done that before?"

"Nope. I'm not even sure if I can."

"Will it hurt?"

He shrugged and gave her a sympathetic look. "Maybe. I don't really know."

Magneto entered the training room and Avalanche explained what he was going to do to him. He would supervise and be ready in case things got out of hand.

Avalanche walked over to Alison and faced her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Are you ready?" She shook her head. "Remember, just absorb the energy like I showed you. It should work."

Alison took a breath to steady herself and shut her eyes. After a moment she nodded.

Avalanche felt her begin absorbing seismic power into herself and gradually begin channeling his own power. He took a moment to 'feel' the mutant before him – something he could only do with her – and slowly began emitting his own power outward, through the ground, and into her.

Alison immediately began shaking slightly and her teeth clenched. Lance knew she didn't have enough power stored to knock down a building yet and continued to force more into her.

The girl began shaking her head again and winced, but gave no indication for him to stop.

Lance found himself smiling.

'Put more into it. See how much she can take. Make her scream.' He shook his head and lowered the amount he was emitting to be certain that she could adjust in time to the unusually large amount of seismic force in her.

Alison's hands had begun clenching and unclenching. Her entire body continued to shudder.

'More. Harder. Faster. You know you want to.' Lance tried to ignore the part of his mind that wanted to needlessly hurt things. Nevertheless he increased the output, if only to test the younger girl's limits.

A small gasp escaped her lips and her muscles went tense. Magneto looked on at the exchange with interest.

'Break her in two. Show her who the master is here. **Just break stuff!**' Lance firmly ignored himself and continued the exchange as it was. Steady application of the amount of power she had absorbed would shake a building down. He slowly ended the flow into her (oh how he wanted to finish with a large spike of energy!) and pulled away from girl. She opened her eyes, but remained tense.

"Are you alright?" Avalanche's cruel, demanding tone surprised him.

She nodded, and looked as if she was trying to stop from vomiting. "Yes. My head. It hurts. I don't- I don't think I can control this much power."

"Just hold it for now." Avalanche looked over at Magneto, who appeared to be amused. "Would you activate the basic simulation I set up?"

"One moment." The master of magnetism walked out of the training room and headed to the command center.

"Okay. All you have to do is hold it together. Once the simulation starts slowly pour the power out into the building. If you can't do that try and make a normal earthquake to shake it down."

She nodded, but winced again. "It hurts."

"You're doing fine."

After a minute in which Magma stood rooted to the spot where she had been standing, the simulation started.

She started promisingly, slowly emitting her powers outward into the floor and creating a normal earthquake. Avalanche easily maintained his balance and the building began shuddering ominously. Moments later the structure was ready to fall when the girl shrieked out and fell to the floor, releasing the remainder of her energy in one violent jolt that jarred the entire training room. Lance quickly ran to her side, but the building remained intact until Magneto ended the run.

"Are you okay?" Avalanche asked quickly.

Alison let out a soft moan of pain before answering and rubbed her head with one hand. "Yeah. I just slipped up. I'm not sure I can do this."

Magneto answered from the door to the room. "Nonsense! A few more practice sessions and you'll be fine."

Alison looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. A few more?! She didn't think she could even handle **one** more. Magneto ignored her and continued, his gravelly voice echoing in the large chamber. "I ran into Gambit before he went into the dormitories Avalanche. I approve of the plan you came up with. I'll handle any Sentinels that appear, and I expect you and my daughter to be able to manage a few humans on your own." He turned to focus on Magma. "You have until tomorrow night to master this. Continue practicing until you are not only able to demolish the structure, but also until you are comfortable moving and storing the power for an extended period of time. Avalanche and Wanda need time to get to the other side side of the compound. It's up to you to be able to wait long enough for them to get into position." Magneto turned and strode out from the room, the automatic doors shutting behind him.

Lance turned back to Alison, still on her knees, looking up at him with a beaten expression on her face. He forced himself to give her another sympathetic look and hid his smirk. "Well, let's try this again."


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 31**

Gambit jerked the cable onto the roof seconds before the guard rounded the corner. Every time he started to think that sneaking in was too easy there was another close call. He rolled onto his stomach to stop the ache in his head. His nose _still_ hurt from Pyro's strike earlier that week, and the acrobatics he had been doing all night to sneak in were starting to make it worse. He counted to ten, then slowly rose up from the roof of the building he lay on. A quick check revealed no guards and he quickly ran to the edge of the building and vaulted to the next one over. Several minutes later and he was as close as he could get to the large structures that he suspected rested over the Sentinel factory.

After waiting several moments for a pair of soldiers to walk by he launched a grappling hook to the closest building and swung down to the ground before running to the wall and climbing the cable to the first window. He taped the middle of the window to his wrist and quickly cut it out along the edges using a glass cutter charged with kinetic energy. Taped to the man as it was, the pane was unable to fall and Remy crept through it and into an empty hallway. Before he dropped to the floor he disconnected the grapple and taped the pane back in place from the inside. A cursory inspection revealed that the structure he was in had the exact same layout as the building he and Todd had been in when they first found the Sentinels. Notable differences included the lack of furniture in the offices and a pair of soldiers hidden carefully in the darkness that made up the garage. They stood at opposite corners of the room, neither near Gambit, who rested at the end of the hall that led to it. If he turned the corner he would be seen, reported, and likely shot before he could reach either of them.

The other ways into the room were several windows nearly thirty feet up, a metal door with a heavy chain and padlock on it, and the main garage doors that would roll open for vehicles. He couldn't get through any of them unseen.

'Okay. Think Remy. What can I do to drop those guards before they can call for help?' He immediately dismissed the "make a noise and hope one comes to investigate it" notion. Any properly trained soldier would report a disturbance before checking it out, and the partner would call for backup the second his voice stopped coming in through the radio. 'I could reach them with my cards, before either could do anything, but a pair of explosions would be just as bad.' The Cajun paused. 'I've seen a man cut a turnip in half with playing cards from thirty feet away before...Maybe their throats?' He decided to make that plan B. For one, he had never tried to cut anything with an uncharged card. Two, the closest soldier was a good fifty feet away from him, with the other being a good hundred or so, and three, he was fairly certain their armor covered their necks. 'Okay. What do I have on me?' Remy began feeling through the pockets in his long coat. 'Grappling hook and cable. Grappling hook launcher in an attachment for my staff. My staff. Cell phone.' He checked to make sure his phone was off. It wasn't, but it _was_ on manner mode. He quickly turned it off. 'Ten packs of cards. A small camera. A small computer thing to download files into. Lock picks. Smoke bombs? When did I get smoke bombs?' He didn't remember but continued anyway, 'A lighter. My watch. Set of keys. Flashlight. Rope. And nothing else.' The red eyed mutant paused. 'None of this helps at all.'

Remy carefully peeked out past the end of the hall and at the guard standing across the room from him, who was fortuitously scanning the ceiling. After a moment he looked down and over at the other soldier, nodded, and then walked across the room, switching positions with him and moving out of Remy's line of sight. Remy pulled back into the hallway.

'You're called Gambit for a reason. Just go for it.'

The southern man spun around the end of the hall and launched his staff through the air at the man standing across from him in a direct line at his head. He continued his spin and fired the grapple launcher at the other man. The soldier ducked, but Gambit smirked and jerked the launcher back while pushing the retract button, reeling the cord back in and latching the grapple securely around the soldier's right arm, the hooks catching on his uniform. There was a dull cracking sound as the bo connected solidly with the first soldier's head, stunning him. Remy ran toward his hooked enemy and delivered a brutal jumping kick to his head, knocking the man out. He landed and ran to the first guard who was bringing his submachine gun to bear on the mutant. Remy launched a deck of cards at him and charged forward as the soldier instinctively ducked. Then Gambit was on top of him, knocking him to the ground and delivering bone crushing punches to his face, cracking his goggles and breaking his teeth. Two punches and the man was only semiconscious. Three and he was unlikely to get up. The forth and final ensured that the man would be out for the night.

Gambit looked at both men before grabbing his staff and and the deck of cards he had thrown. He hadn't charged the cards, instead guessing correctly that the soldier would dodge any unknown projectile, before grabbing his grapple launcher. He walked over to the metal panel that lead to the factory.

It was solid.

A quick but thorough check revealed that the entire floor was solid. Remy sighed and tied the men together, hoping their loss wouldn't be noticed until it was too late. He headed to the window he had entered by and prepared to check the other two warehouses.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The Cajun pulled himself to the roof of the third warehouse and hid while he recovered his breath. That last guard had been _savage._ He was fairly certain he would have discolored bruises on his chest for a few weeks. He rolled onto his stomach and looked to his newest target – the large gothic building not far from where he presently rested. It would be difficult to get to, as there was an open area around it on all sides. The front had a large drive for vehicles, and the sides and back had a large well trimmed lawn. Luckily the building had several parapets and gargoyles he could use to climb up on, and **lots** of large windows at both ground level and along the second floor. A sort of tower in the middle of it rose up two more stories, with the interior open to the elements as part of the design. There were no guards on the building, although several did patrol around it.

Remy moved in as close as he could and waited nearly twenty minutes as he timed the movements of the soldiers. Once he was fairly certain he wouldn't be seen he jumped to the ground, ignored the pain in his head from the stunt, and dashed across to the building. He easily climbed up to the roof without any aid, using the numerous hand holds provided by the old stone and the architecture. The portion of the roof he was on was actually a flat walkway with one side bordered by the parapets, the other by the sharply sloping roof. The walkway circled the entire building, with two doors that lead into the tower.

Gambit climbed the outer portion of the tower a mere ten feet before being able to enter through the open wall. He slowly climbed down onto a stairway and went past the door he bypassed. He found the stairs lead to an unlocked door that lead into the main portion of the building. The floor was tiled, and the halls were decorated with various maps and posters protected behind glass. Only a few small fluorescent lights on at various points kept the corridor from being pitch black. Various offices were intermittently placed along the walls.

The lack of cameras and guards slightly unnerved him, but the Cajun reassured himself that the building was too old and outdated to have been restored for cameras, and nobody would ordinarily have to guard the _inside_ of a building that appeared to be some kind of school. After several minutes of searching, Gambit found a door with a list of various offices and officers that apparently resided in it. One of the officers was a Colonel, which was enough for him to decided to check it out. He picked the lock on the door without too much trouble and found himself in a small hall, with several doors in it, each leading to different office. He picked the lock on the Colonel's door and found himself in a small waiting area, complete with reception desk. On the opposite wall he finally found the door that stated the Colonel's name and rank. The Cajun took some of the candy that was in a bowl on the desk, and walked around the counter to the office door. After picking what would hopefully be his last door for the night he found a desk with a computer on it, resting in standby. He sat down in the chair, plugged Magneto's gizmo into the computer, and then got up from the chair to open the file cabinets that took up a large portion of the available space. Rather than picking each door he gave the locks a small charge and blew the doors open with only a small pop to indicate his presence.

He examined the files in each cabinet and quickly ascertained that they were all nothing other than various financial records and histories of each man on the base. Nevertheless he spent several minutes taking photos of everything that could be deemed important by his overly demanding boss. A small red light was beeping on Magneto's computer toy when he finished, indicating that it had completed whatever task it had been programmed to do. Remy removed it and walked out of the office.

As he walked out of the reception area, the entrance to the hallway burst open and commandos poured through the door. They spotted him just as he threw three charged cards at them. Gambit ducked back into the reception area as they exploded and when he looked back out into the hall he saw that the wall near the door leading to the outside hall was blown down and at least two dozen men were charging through the gap toward him. He dropped a pair of cards to the ground in the hall and flipped backward over the counter in the room, knocking the candy to the ground and crushing the keyboard on the desk. The Cajun mutant pulled out his cell phone and thumbed it on as the cards went off. He threw some more at the door as he waited to get service. They went off as he speed dialed Avalanche's number. He drew his staff as Avalanche picked up at the other end and several pissed off soldiers burst out of the smoke left by his explosions.

"What is it?" Avalanche's voice asked quickly and clearly.

"I need backup. I'm on the second floor in the two floor fancy building. I have the data. Hurry." Gambit closed the phone and threw smoke bombs to the floor as the first soldier jumped across the counter at him. More went around it to flank him. Remy knocked the first man to the ground and retreated to the corner of the room while throwing more smoke bombs and grabbing his staff with both hands.

Possibly because of the close quarters, possibly from something else, the commandos elected not to use their guns as they attacked him.

Gambit delivered a vicious strike to the next man's helmeted head before planting the weapon into the base of the skull of the first man who had come over the counter at him. The room was rapidly filling with smoke and it was becoming hard to see.

Another soldier rounded the counter and waited for another to crowd next to him before preparing to attack. A third climbed onto the counter and was ready to launch towards the mutant, who drew his staff back and adopted a stance he learned from Sabretooth.

"Come on then!"


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution.

**Chapter 32**

The Brotherhood had been waiting in the forest along the eastern edge of the compound when Lance had gotten Gambit's call. They had been waiting for the Cajun to return before beginning their assault, but now had to change the plan on the fly.

Magneto had quickly raised one hand above his head, palm open to the sky. There was a brief hum and everyone's phones shut down as all the lights on the base went out. A moment later several emergency lights lit the compound up. There was another hum and they all shut down as well. He turned to the rest of the Brotherhood, "Scarlet Witch, Avalanche, head to the southern side of the base and destroy the runway and the hangers there! I'll lead the rest of you to recover Gambit."

Lance nodded and took off, running south. Wanda followed, slightly slower. Magneto examined Pyro, Magma, and Blob carefully, as if he was having trouble deciding something. He bit back a grimace and barked out another order. "Blob! Lead Magma and Pyro to the center of the compound, following the original plan in the training session. But head north instead of west. That means a right turn once you get there. **Don't** go straight. Look for Gambit and myself near the building that looks like a church."

Blob responded crossly, "I _know_ which way north is. We'll get there no problem." He pointed with his thumb to himself and the other two mutants alongside him. Magneto seemed to hesitate, but then turned and soared into the sky.

Pyro turned to Blob after Magneto had taken off. "Not to question you mate, but how are are we gonna knock down that building without Avalanche?!"

Blob smirked.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda struggled to keep up with the taller male in front of her. He wasn't in a dead sprint, but was moving at a fast enough clip that she was losing ground to him. Neither one of them was in the forest – with the lights out it was much faster to simply run alongside the cleared edge. Slightly frozen grass crunched beneath her feet while she pushed herself to run faster.

Her heavy trench coat caught on a thorn bush and snagged, slowing her down further. She jerked hard to free it and took part of the plant with her as she struggled to catch up. Her coat might not have been particularly practical most of the time, but when it was near freezing it was definitely worth it.

Lance was a barely visible silhouette in the darkness ahead of her now. He was running alongside the forest's edge though, and the southern end of the base was coming up soon, which meant she could abandon the relative safety of distance and cut across the cleared ground at the corner to catch him.

She did so, and was spotted by a patrolling guard who quickly called in an intruder to find his radio didn't work. He followed her from his side of the fence, taking care to stay next to the nearby buildings as he remained unseen.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"**I'm the BLOB!!**" And with that battle cry, the massive teenager charged straight through the building that was originally scheduled for demolition. Walls, furniture, machinery, support columns, none of it stopped the Blob as he made a hole for his teammates tor follow through. Alison ran after him, slightly in awe of the devastation he had caused. Behind her Pyro followed, lighting up everything he could see.

And suddenly Fred was through, the last wall shattering to rubble as he hit it. He stopped his charge and took a short breather while he waited for Pyro to catch up to him. Alison stepped over the bricks and came up alongside the larger mutant. Pyro, chuckling darkly, let loose a double blast of flame from his weapons before he stepped out.

Alison stepped a few feet away and transformed into her flame form. Blob glanced at her before he turned to Pyro and nodded.

The Australian drew flames from Magma and built them up into a massive demon high above the three mutants. It hovered briefly, before splitting in two and rushing into the buildings to the north and south of the mutants. Surprised cries could be heard from the northern building, and a the screeching of a fire alarm went off. Apparently Magneto hadn't disabled every electrical device on base.

Blob shouted to his companions as he lead the charge to the center of the compound. "Lets go!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Remy coughed and ducked backward through the smoke. The fire alarm had begun to go off earlier, but everything went dark before it could even finish its first shriek. Now he had the significant aid of near absolute darkness. The only light whatsoever barely filtered through the Colonel's office to his right. It wasn't enough to see anything other than a slight gray along the line it made through the room.

"Where is he?!"

"Somebody find him!"

"Don't shoot! For the love of God don't shoot! We'll hit each other in here!"

The mass confusion helped immensely. While the soldiers had to be certain that they weren't attacking each other, Remy was able to simply swing his staff blindly, connecting with unseen opponents.

There was a sudden scratching sound, and one of the soldiers lit a match. The light wasn't able to penetrate the thick smoke very deeply, but it was much better than nothing.

Gambit found a soldier standing right next to him and shot out his hand into a vicious strike on the man's throat, preventing him from shouting. While soldier struggled for air the Cajun mutant gave a quick one-two with his staff, dropping the man to the ground and letting everyone know where he was. He barely saw a man leaping through the smoke at him and quickly slammed the butt of his staff into the bridge of the soldier's nose, knocking him out.

Another came at him from around the counter. Remy feinted with his right and let forth a quick choppy kick to the soldier's stomach, causing him to double over. He bashed his staff into the commando's head, dropping him. Bodies were quite literally piling up around him.

Gambit coughed loudly, as smoke clouded his lungs. Various lit matches were thrown in his direction, providing enough illumination for his opponents to finally see him properly. Gambit spotted several men moving through the smoke around the counter and at least one man climbing over it and he quickly retreated over the knocked out men before him and into the Colonel's office. He charged nearly a dozen cards and threw them through the door and into the waiting room. The Cajun quickly rolled over the desk in the room and covered his ears.

The explosions rocked the building to its foundation. The desk jumped through the air and shattered to splinters where it hit a wall, narrowly missing the prone mutant. One man was blown through the door into the office and left a bloodstain on the wall he impacted. Gambit rose and tried to ignore the various cries of agony from the survivors in the waiting room. Technically, they were in the same room as he since the wall separating them was gone. The counter no longer existed, and a half dozen bodies lay on the first floor courtesy of a hole in the floor.

Small sparks smoldered on the uniforms of several prone commandos, providing slight illumination. Smoke wafted throughout the room, stinging his eyes and blocking the path to the hall. He slowly walked out of the office, stepping over a body and being careful not to trip over any debris. The Cajun crouched down and saw that he had blown a hole straight through the floor to a room below him. Just as Gambit prepared to drop down through the hole he felt a sudden jerk at his neck and was thrown backwards through the air, crashing back into the office.

He landed flat on his back, letting out a small "Oof!" Just as he rolled to his feet he saw an enraged guard charging towards him, his uniform smoking and torn. The man slammed Remy into the wall and delivered a brutal hook to the mutant's jaw. Before Remy could recover he felt something hit his solar plexus and he lost his wind. There was a sudden blur and he just made out a fist before it crashed between his eyes.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Wanda caught up to Lance shortly after cutting the corner. The older mutant nodded slightly to acknowledge her as they ran alongside the southern portion of the compound, heading to a point near the hangars where they would break in. Lance slowed his pace to a fast jog to allow Wanda to keep up with him, and they quickly reached their position. Lance prepared to shake down the fence blocking them from the base but Wanda quickly pulled one of his hands down and stopped him. He glanced at her, confused, until she raised her other hand, crackling with blue lightning. She pointed at the fence and a stream of blue force shot from her hand, which she directed into a crude arch, cutting out a section that would allow them entrance. Lance noticed the edge of the fence glowing orange as he crossed under the arch.

Then they were on the runway, across from the three buildings that were their target and no guards were to be seen. Lance let out a short grunt as he slammed his foot down, causing rolling ripples to tear through the tarmac. He raised his hands slowly, as if lifting a heavy bar, and the earth began shaking. As he lifted higher the shaking increased more and more until the earth below and around them split apart into countless fractures and small cracks.

Avalanche let his arms down and breathed heavily from his exertion. Sweat began to form on his brow and he brushed it away. "That's one way to break a runway." He stated with a smirk.

"Wonderful." Wanda replied flatly. She walked forward, closer to the hangars. "Are you ready to do this, or do you need to show off more?"

Avalanche glared at her back as they advanced.

A man nimbly sprang out from behind one of the hangars and raised his rifle towards Wanda.

She reacted before conscious thought, her right firing a hex bolt while her left crackled with energy.

The man suddenly twitched, a muscle spasming right as he pulled the trigger, causing the bullets to narrowly miss the girl. Then Wanda's hex bolt collided with him knocking him to the ground and out.

Wanda's eyes suddenly went wide, as she realized fully how close she came to being shot. She had _heard_ the bullets whipping by her. "That was close," she breathed out.

Lance didn't respond.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Dave Fleck dropped to the floor, letting the mutant before him drop as well.

His knuckles throbbed from the beating he had delivered. His uniform was burnt in who knew how many places, and feeling was slowly returning to his body. He became aware of a large warm sticky spot on his left side. He lay back and rested, confident that help was on its way and that the intruder wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

'Dead. All dead.'

The thought of the friends he knew, laying limply not ten feet from him filled him with rage. But his limbs felt too heavy to move and his head was throbbing too much for him to really care about moving.

He dimly felt the floor below him hum. What was that? One of the generators turning on? It would be nice to have some light, instead of laying alone in the dark. It grew louder and louder, and he realized that he was hearing it as well as feeling it.

Well, that was good. It meant that his hearing had returned and the explosion hadn't made him go deaf. God his ears ached.

Then the file cabinets slammed against the outside wall.

In seconds the entire wall was ripped outwards letting moonlight shine in through the dust and smoke. A dark figure floated outside, cloaked and covered. It was entirely featureless save for its glowing orange eyes.

The man, if such a thing could be called a man, simply stood in midair, as if there were ground below him. Its burning eyes moved slowly across the room, taking in the bodies. They focused on Dave for a moment, who lay staring, petrified. Then, as if dismissing him, the thing glided forward as if on an invisible conveyor belt and landed in the room next to the mutant. The larger dark man bent over and picked him up before ascending several feet. He turned and began floating away.

Dave suddenly realized what was happening. "No." His breath came out as a whisper. "No." The floating man – a mutant! - didn't seem to hear, or ignored him. The human fought against his own body and rolled to his knees. He looked around and saw a submachine gun laying within reach, its owner blackened and unnaturally bent not far away. He grabbed the weapon and cocked it, his arms protesting the movement. He brought it to his shoulder and squinted to see through the dust. There! His finger tightened and the weapon jumped, nearly making him drop it. Nevertheless he corrected his aim and pulled the trigger over and over until the firearm went dead.

They were gone. The mutants had gotten away. Tears filled his eyes and he punched the floor once before succumbing to the blackness creeping at the edge of his vision.

**A/N:** Sorry for the delayed update. I've moved and had a vacation among other things, which set this chapter back. I'd like to thank everyone for reading this far. Currently, we are approximately halfway through this fic, which is only one – third of the whole story. So...yeah, quite a ways to go yet. As always, I love to read your reviews, and please – Any constructive criticism is welcome. I'm always happen to answer any questions about the fic as well.

Lastly, the last portion of this chapter – about the human soldier. Anybody else ever wonder what it'd it be like to be on the other side? What it must be like for all the random soldiers that work in "evil" institutions experimenting on mutants? This is just my take on one of them. Maybe our heroes aren't so heroic after all.


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